From Beyond the World Tree
by i4md347h
Summary: Defying reality, Momonga had found himself in the body of a teenage boy, one gifted with a power beyond his dreams. Through the boy, he would begin a new chapter of his life in a world where limits cannot exist, where the surrealities dominate common sense, and on a quest to survive the hurdles the world could throw at him. Be it the foes that threaten him, or the girls wanting him
1. Chapter 1

**Yes. It is I, I4MD347H. I have finally delivered my desire to write an Overlord X Highschool DxD fic. Thanks to the co-writer, Zaralann, for helping me with the DxD side. I cannot bring myself to read all of the LN volumes due to the sheer ridiculousness and bad writing in general. He also taught me how to write the characters better, a great senior in the writing department. I plan to make this fic one the best Overlord Crossover Fics out there, so expect greatness. Know that I will include some lemon content since it is also is the first M Rated Fic I am writing as well, so the M-Rated scenes are a must.**

* * *

From the peaceful twilight, the setting sun slowly sank the world in its orange glow, fading in wait for the world to repeat itself. In the park, under the descending light, within the panorama of peace, a pained cry screamed outside the trees.

The owner of the voice was a young boy, one reaching the cusp of his youth in high school. Brown colored his hair, his eyes an opaque amber, his face soft in features and appealing for girls his age.

The boy was Hyōdō Issei, a sophomore of Kuoh Academy - a school that was once an all-girls school that recently allowed male members to attend. Athwart him was Yuuma, his date… and his murderer who was holding the spear of light that pierced through his gullet, spine, and all.

Issei was bleeding. He grabbed the spear in a desperate attempt to remove the weapon from his person. However, whether he liked it or not, it was a fatal blow. The pain from his wound was intense, but that pales in comparison to the emotional pain of betrayal that Yuuma sadistically speared through his heart. Once, she was a regular, cute brunette his age, but now she was older, more mature in appearance and sex appeal. From her back, sprouted pair of black wings, each as dark as coal mined from the darkest depths.

He was about to die in the next brief moments, but despite that, he endured; he prayed for a miracle to give him the strength to survive through the process and live. But in a godless world, such miracles were dead, leaving Issei to the mercy of others in a grand, twisted game.

"Yu… uma… why…" He could only utter before the woman ripped her spear from his stomach with a mighty yank, allowing the bloodletting to take its course as he fell face-first on the dirt.

Issei struggles to rise, to get back up and run to safety, but he even lost the strength to stand. He lay there on the ground, helpless and at Death's mercy as his life swiftly bled away towards the inevitable cold.

From the corpse splaying facedown in the park, right beside the fountain, blood pooled into the dry soil and stained the dirt red. Standing above her former boyfriend, Yuuma, the alias of Raynare, an agent of the Grigori, flicked the blood off her light spear with a gesture.

She smirked at her work, feeling a sense of accomplishment from her successful deed. Raynare had killed the wielder of an unknown Sacred Gear that could threaten the safety of the Grigori, cutting off the bud before it could sprout.

"It really is such a shame, Issei-kun. I really did enjoy our date." She gave her final words of farewell before giving the corpse her back as she prepared her wings of black, launching herself in an ascent as she took to the skies with a smile on her face.

Now she could focus on the other matter on her list, the tool that could grant her the power to rise beyond her station. However, in a world where almost anything could happen, forces beyond the realm of mortal understanding were at work, pulling strings that touched the rare opportunities beyond the real - and it found an ideal target that was ripe for the picking.

As if to spit in the face of all the laws of the universe, the body stirred postmortem, not from the miracle of a Devil contract on his person or an Archangel's boon, but from another Soul that somehow found its way into the dying boy.

Few could notice the disturbance, but none could estimate the cause or pinpoint its origin. Rising once more, Issei Hyōdō stood once again, his stomach wound already closing through forces indeed of the supernatural and illogical… or at least someone who wore his face.

* * *

One moment, the sight of the throne room and the NPCs stood with him, waiting for the inevitable end. After opening his eyes, the first thing Momonga saw was the sunset sky followed by the irritating feeling of something wet and sticky soaking his back from the hair down. After getting up, looking around the area, he found himself in a place he had never seen.

When he did, he accidentally stared into the sun, yet the glaring rays did not bother him like it would an average person. Confusion wracked Momonga's thoughts. Why was he outside supinely under broad… daylight? No, sinking daylight. The sky was so clear for some reason, the clouds not bearing a single tainting black, the air so... refreshing unlike the usual filtered air in his room… wait…

Something was flying off in the distance. He saw a… was that a woman with black wings? Momonga's mind halted as he tried to process the sight. Her black-themed attire was quite revealing, leather high-leg boots, straps barely covering her most sensitive parts, it was quite confusing.

'_Is that an Angel?'_ Momonga had no clue since that person did not look like the generic angels of YGGDRASIL. Was it a customized NPC or something? He shrugged as he returned his attention to his surroundings to inspect his dilemma.

Momonga could not recognize his location. Not only that, he stared at something that should not exist. He saw trees, lush trees, flora that should've been long extinct years ago when the pollution first consumed the Earth. He even saw a fountain spewing crystal-clear water with no sign of tainted smog floating in his surroundings.

'_Am I in another Game?'_ Actually, the fact that he had no breathing apparatus attached to his face was indication enough that there was no pollution abound. He didn't even cough upon inhaling the outside air, only fresh, untainted air, along with the scent of trees and the humid soil.

"…where am I… eh?" So many questions bombarded his mind, even the abnormal tone of his voice.

What was happening to him? A glitch in the system?

He was to log off in his room, not in a strange place where pollution did not exist. Not only that, he felt weird, more… hyperactive for some reason. Not only this, his stomach also itches to his angst, growing to the point of being unbearable to ignore. Momonga briefly scratched his torso, but he stopped his fingers when he felt a wet spot on his shirt. The liquid was warm, very warm, and it was sticky.

Unsure what it was, Momonga looked down on himself, but he froze when he saw the dark color of crimson staining his front. Was he bleeding? Why was there a pool of blood around his feet? He just realized that he was standing in a pool of blood.

"...eh?" All thoughts screeched to a halt as he tried to deny the reality before him logically, but he was failing.

As if to confirm that he was not in a dream or another virtual reality, Momonga grabbed the red spot and wrung the blood from the squelching polyester. When he brought up to his face, he smelled it carefully. It stunk of copper and iron, and the smell was so strong that Momonga pulled back from the stench. The scent was too authentic to be virtual. The technologies of today could never replicate such a tangible sensation.

However, he wasn't convinced. He needed to test his theory. The scent of iron was strong, too strong for it to be virtual as there was no technology capable of replicating such a robust and acrid stench. To affirm his suspicions, Momonga decided to taste-test.

Placing the wet blood to his tongue, Momonga spat it out, the horrible taste of iron and lingering copper confirming his fears to his growing horror. Momonga woke up in a pool of his blood.

"_Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh_!" He was bleeding!

What happened to his body when he was in YGGDRASIL?! Quickly, he lifted his shirt to inspect the damage. Although… there was no hole around his stomach area. The lack of stomach wounds confused Momonga, but the outlines from a large scar indicated the presence of a puncture.

However, that was not the only problem. Momonga's body shape was… wrong. It felt off, very off. Not to mention that his current clothes did not match the formal attire he usually wore. What the hell happened to him when he was in the virtual dive?

Swiftly rushing to the fountain, ignoring the loud cracks in his step, Momonga quickly looked at his reflection from the tranquil waters while daylight still burned in the twilight.

"Huh?" A stranger greeted him from the waters.

Whose face was this? His hair was brown, his eyes that of amber orange, and his face twenty years younger than what he expected. Why was he in the body of a teenager? No, how did he get inside the body of a teenager in general? He was to wake up in his apartment back home!

Momonga had so many questions that he couldn't pick which to ask first. His first conclusion was that he was somehow kidnapped, his consciousness abducted in virtual reality, but… the environment was too tangible for that possibility. Momonga touched the pond, feeling the cool water embracing his hand. No environmental technology could replicate such realism.

But to triple check his hypothesis, Momonga tried to open his menu screen to narrow down his conjecture. However, to his surprise, a menu did open… he saw his Status Screen on display.

Quickly, Momonga searched for the GM. He found it and tried to call for aid, but the call function wasn't there. That one button somehow vanished from his screen. Not only that… he quickly looked for his Status Screen, pressing that button hanging in the air.

Once the screen switched to his character build, Momonga could see his usual Overlord Class on display, hovering before his eyes… along with a few more additions, something that should be impossible in YGGDRASIL.

The questions kept piling in his mind without end, and Momonga was buried under that mountain. To dig himself out of it would take a while… but the big question was, where should he start?

* * *

Issei did not use the contract pamphlet.

When she discovered his Sacred Gear, Rias decided to take him in by any means necessary, to recruit his aide for her cause. Rias was sure that Issei was to use it in his time of desperate need. Yet the pentagram was crumpled and tossed aside, sitting in the crimson pool to rot.

Standing over the blood puddle in confusion, Rias could only find a trail of blood walking out of the scene step by step. There was no corpse, but also no indication of his body disintegrated by the Fallen Angel. No ashes were present in the scene.

The trail headed towards the water fountain before the direction shifted left. The path stopped after the ninth step, ended by thin drips of blood fading in a line.

"Hmm… did Issei awaken his Sacred Gear at the last moment, and it saved him?" Rias could only come to this conclusion.

Walking towards the fountain, Rias leaned closer at the bloody handprints on the stone rims. From the position, she could tell that Issei was trying to look at himself in the reflection. Probably to find out about his wounds or state when he got up.

When she first saw Issei, she sensed something about him was off. When she sent Koneko to spy on him, her rook told her she that Issei bore the scent of a Dragon.

There were only a few dragon-based Sacred Gears that she knew of, but there was something off. Even if the Sacred Gear could heal the user, why didn't her pentagram trigger upon his time of critical need?

There wasn't just blood. Violent indentations wounded the concrete, each sharing the size of one of the bloodstained footprints. Did Issei's Sacred Gear bestow him inhuman strength along with flight?

She did not know what kind of Sacred Gear he had in him, but it should be too early for a beginner to acquire more than one assortment of abilities. By now, he should be home, at least. It was past ten, two hours before midnight.

Or he could be pursuing his murderer with a vengeance. The fallen angel did kill him in cold blood after betraying his heart. Now that Rias thought about it, Issei would make a lot of noise if he did consider his simple personality so far.

The musing reminded her of the problem that Fallen Angels that trespassed into Kuoh, one of the territories under the co-op rule of the Gremory and Sitri clans. She should add to dealing with them in her schedule.

Her plan was to obtain another trump card to aid her against Riser Phenix, and it was already crumbling by its foundations. She needed to salvage the situation her life would fall within Riser's clutches.

Her first step was to reevaluate the situation and edit her plan to recruit him to her cause. All she needed was a new approach.

* * *

How long had passed since his wandering, Momonga couldn't tell. Whoever this Issei was, he didn't have a watch in hand. It took him a while to find the address in that ID card from that wallet in his pocket.

The previous owner's name was Issei Hyōdō, age fifteen, child of two parents and student of Kuoh Academy. That was the rough summary of Hyōdō's background. There was even the address of the boy's demesne on it.

Navigating through the city took him some time. He had to stealthily use **[Fly]** while cloaked in **[Perfect Illusion]** to cheat his way through the hassle, albeit sparingly since he had no idea if other supernatural beings could detect him. That brunette with wings of black was not a figment of his imagination as far as he knew.

When he did arrive at Issei's home, triple-checking his address to confirm the matching numbers, Momonga stood outside the door, tightening his fists as he closed his eyes to brace himself mentally. When Momonga enters that door, his parents will greet him… no, Issei's parents.

Momonga remembered the time when he still had parents. The sight of his mother dying from overwork in the kitchen was still fresh in his mind. He trembled when he recalled his shitty world, the struggles he endured under a polluted sky. It was a terrible memory that robbed most of his capacity for emotion.

As for the first hurdle with the parents, Momonga must muster every ounce of his acting skills at his disposal. He was entering someone's house with the face of a loved one usually spelled doom if others knew of his identity. Momonga did not know the names of his parents, the hobbies of Issei, or the Hyōdō family's way of life. He was a stranger through and through, and there were only so many lies he could throw.

He was afraid. Thoughts of the two faces calling him out flashed within Momonga's mind, exposing him at first glance should he somehow slip. He had never done this before, so of course, it should rattle his resolve. However, once his chaotic emotions reached a certain point, it died like a smothered flame, quenched by cold waters.

It was a strange feeling to Momonga, despite it being from his Overlord Racial Class. His Undead **[Emotion Suppression]** would suppress his emotions once they reach a particular peak. However, he found out that he could turn it off by thought for some reason… Momonga could never do it in the game before. Maybe him having a flesh and blood body helped with that.

Shaking off his stray thoughts, Momonga took a deep breath as he steeled his mettle. With one hand raised, he pressed the doorbell and rang the residents inside, assuming that they were present. He hoped that they do not work at night shifts; otherwise, he would have to wait for them until morning.

After waiting for five suspenseful minutes, the door opened, revealing a feminine face. Momonga assumed that she was Issei's mother. She was in her late years, wrinkles already creeping on her face, but the kindness and maternal warmth radiated palpably like the setting sun.

"Ummm, mother. I'm home…" It was the best he got, taken from when his mother was still alive, but it took a lot of effort to bring the words out.

The woman tilted her head. Momonga could tell she was confused by his question.

"Oh, dear, Issei! What happened to you? It isn't like you to come home so late. Who knows what could happen to you at night?"

'_She is his mother… or… my mother…'_ Momonga did not know how to parse this feeling. It was like he was stealing a good life from someone else. The fact that it wasn't by his intention worsened it.

Seeing the matriarch reminded Momonga of his mother. She was a kind one, a hard worker. His true mother was the only kindness Momonga knew in his life, the spark in the dying world choked in pollution of greed and the insanity of humankind. He could still recall his mother's death when she tried to make him a sandwich.

How couldn't he forget? The most traumatic of experiences always left a mark no one would forget. He could even remember the scarring pain that morning - how his Soul died along with her. Burdened with this recollection, Momonga answered with an opposite lie.

"Well… somewhat."

He cannot help but cringe when he spoke those words as his gut entangled itself in a knot. The sheer awkwardness was far more onerous than he expected.

"Oh, it doesn't matter. Please, come in! It's dangerous to stay outside at night!" The mother kindly urged as she took his hand and pulled him inside.

He now entered the Hyōdō Family's house. He was starting to regret it as it meant crossing the line of no return. Momonga may have traveled from place to place as a salaryman, but this wasn't business. It was an unpredictable drama, ready to burst.

After taking off his shoes with the mother, Momonga reviewed his lines a few more times while she took him in the living room where a middle-aged man sat on the couch reading a newspaper.

Momonga was sorry for them, but he had to do this. He must play the role of Issei Hyōdō. This way, he could investigate Issei's background with much room for freedom. If he was lucky, he can play dumb and survive on the ignorance of the parents, assuming that they were not the abusive type.

"How was your day? You've almost missed dinner, you know! Please, we've saved some for you." The mother urged, kindly. She was way too kind… it reminded Momonga of his mother. His heart pained somewhat at the memory.

"Hahaha, I am… quite busy, honestly."

Ironically, this was the truth. He was busy as hell, trying to uncover his being here.

"Nonsense, sweety. You must have quite a lot of fun at your friend's place. Don't tell me you were wasting your time playing with those worthless 'eroges' you youngsters play these days?"

The mother said something both incredible and ridiculous that it already painted Momonga a good idea of who Issei was.

"Hah?" He was genuinely perturbed. The first thing that came out of the mother's mouth was the mention of material Pererochino would adore with religious zeal, one that would lead to his big sister beating him up.

"I, I cannot, no!" Momonga denied.

"Hehehe, you don't need to deny it, son." The father joined in, chuckling warmly at his haphazard response. "We already know you're in the springtime of youth. It is absolutely normal."

'_Is it?_' Momonga didn't graduate from elementary school, so he could not know. He started to hate his former world and those that did make it to junior high.

"But Issei-san, you really should stop hanging out with Motohama and Matsuda. Why can't you find some normal friends for a change?" The mother asked, making Momonga leak an awkward sweat.

'_Eh?'_ Her response shattered all expectations in Momonga's mind. Reviewing what he learned so far, he learned that Issei went to visit a friend's place. But he was at a park, alone and bleeding in a puddle of Issei's blood, no friends in sight. Wait, did his friends murder him? No, it did not add up.

Even so, Momonga took note of Motoyama and Matsuda and stored them for later use. From her tone, the mother verbally painted them as Pererochinos when she mentioned eroges and '_Issei's_' fondness for them. From this conversation, Momonga saw Issei as the depiction of a pervert or an enthusiast for the female body.

Now how should he go about this? There was a big hole in their logic. They only mention his male friends, not a female friend. He thought that they were referring to females when she said a friend's place. Issei did not visit a friend's abode unless the two were females with a fondness for eroges, treated as males by his parents, which was impossible unless he saw them with his own eyes.

"I can see that I… have let myself go quite a lot today." Momonga carefully phrased. Crap, this was harder than he expected. How should he worm his way through this hurdle? Wait, an epiphany struck him.

"Although, to be fair, I had to go meet a certain someone in the park, but no one was there." Momonga was baiting them for a response.

The scantily-clad brunette was the most likely suspect behind Issei's murder unless evidence suggested otherwise.

The parents looked at him confused, their confoundment arousing his heart to pulse at a faster beat, but it cut its acceleration down after reaching a peak, feeling instant calm, dowsing his emotions. Momonga thanked his avatar's undead trait for killing his panic in this situation, or else he would've cracked like ice under the desert sun.

"Park? What are you talking about? You went to your friends' house, right?" The father asked, lowering his newspaper to give Momonga a quirking brow.

His response did not make sense. He purposely left the girl out to test their knowledge on Issei's schedule. Did Issei lie to his parents? There was so little evidence here to work with, and the amount of contradiction was not helping him. Momonga nearly cracked his mask from the boiling anxiety before his emotions were killed again.

Still, he really did not like to play the role of their idiot son. Momonga had no idea how he could play it, but he must bear with it until he found a way out.

"Ahaha. Sorry, I… well, I'm a bit tired. Can I go to bed?" Momonga asked, deciding to cut off the conversation here.

He could always deal with this tomorrow.

"Oh, right. You do need to get ready for school." The mother mentioned.

Judging by her reaction, she did not seem to care about how he cut off their conversation midway. Momonga got a good picture of their character, and it made him all the more guilty inside for using their trusting nature against them.

Momonga grimaced somewhat. He must wake up extra early to find the route to his school and to avoid making eye contact with those 'friends' of his. As far as he knew, they were also murder suspects. Momonga could use his presence to test their reactions. If they look at him baffled that he lives in any way, he would haul them in for interrogation. He did need to practice his abilities, after all.

"Thanks, mom." Momonga nodded and then headed upstairs, sighing in relief that he no longer have to deal with them.

Playing the idiot son was stressful enough. Reaching the end, he looked around, looking for Issei's room. From door to door, Momonga peeked inside. He found the bathroom, his parent's bedroom judging by the mature decor and the size of the bed, and…

Momonga blinked. Was this what a teenager's room looked like? He saw a computer desk with cases of DVDs messily stacked on the desk shelf beside the computer. Getting closer, Momonga could see various titles of anime series he did not recognize but was confident that Pererochino would adore judging by the girls on the covers.

"I'm in the body of a hentai enthusiast," Momonga uttered again, fully accepting this fact after seeing the evidence of Issei's livelihood, but was unsure how he should feel about it.

And that didn't count the strange background of said hentai enthusiast as well. Momonga shook his head as he looked at his bed. It was a plain bed like the one he had, white pillow and white sheets, nothing special. He might be able to sleep in it… but did he _need_ to?

He was still undead despite wearing flesh and blood. He still needed to test out his powers again once he had the time. Actually, he could do it right now if he wanted to, but he had no idea when he should get ready for school. He realized that he had no idea where his school clothes were… Momonga sighed.

He had a lot of work on his hands, and it did not please him in the slightest. His first step was to familiarize himself with Issei's room and then his way of life.

* * *

Kuoh Academy.

Momonga looked at the address plate beside the gate once more to make sure. He looked at it and then back to his ID card again, finding the numbers and letters match with those on the plate. There was even a schedule on it, saying that the school opens around five in the morning, which was an hour prior.

Momonga felt figurative worms eating his guts the more he stared at the school in full uniform and backpack, his nervousness growing only to die down and for it to regrow and repeat the cycle. He had absolutely no idea how to play Issei Hyōdō. He doubted that even the greatest minds of all time could play a pervert's life without fail or without multiple attempts, and Momonga knew that he was no genius.

But what the heck was this school? It looked like something a wealthy Englishmen would build from the ground up. Momonga was sure that the construction would cost millions of yen if one put the workforce, materials, and planning into account, and that did not include the other facilities adjacent to the main building. Heck, there might be other buildings that Momonga was unaware of. There was even a fountain behind the entrance surrounded by extravagant trees, which he believed was to beautify the area behind the fence of bricks.

Momonga woke up around four in the morning, got dressed, packed his things, head out via **[Fly]** under **[Perfect Unknowable]**, familiarize himself with the layout of this city and the routes leading to this academy, and then bought his own breakfast from a nearby store.

The sun was still stretching up on the horizon, with most of the night replaced by radiant orange. Some of the girls walked past him with a confused face, others with disgust on their miens. Every time he saw a teenage girl giving him a look usually reserved for scum killed him a little inside. His ears caught words like _'ehhh, it's him,'_ _'what's he doing this early,'_ and _'probably to get an early peek at us, so let's just get in faster.'_ It seemed that Issei had garnered quite a bit of infamy in this school, at least with the female populace.

Momonga sighed as he entered through the gates, wanting to get to class without encountering any of Issei's associates. He had no plan on how to deal with them just yet… no, wait, he was just too scared of them. As he entered the building, enduring the girls avoiding him and giving him stink eyes, Momonga took a good look at the lobby and the dividing halls. He blinked with Issei's eyes several times as his expression crumbled into a realizing horror.

'_I have no idea which classroom Issei goes to…'_

He wanted to ask for help, but that would attract too much suspicion. Strangers were a different animal compared to family members. They have no incentive to play along with Momonga's blunders. If that came to be, then Momonga would have no idea how to act.

As he stared at the end of one hall blankly, he felt a pat on his back.

"Yo! Issei! You got here pretty early!"

'_Oh, thank god.'_

He thanked whatever divine power up there for granting him this save. He could use this encounter to his advantage. Turning around, he saw two males greeting him, one with his hand raised while the other giving him a goofy smile.

One of them was a nearly bald, thin teenager, his head was ovular, millimeters of hair coloring his head gray. The other was more rotund, chubby cheeks with glasses covering his eyes.

"Yo, Matsuda. Motohama." Using their lingo, Momonga greeted back, assuming that they were the two friends of Issei that the mother mentioned. For some reason, he knew that they were Issei's friends based on appearance alone.

"You're up pretty early, doncha think? What are you thinking about? Wait, don't tell me. Whose boobs are your imagining now?"

'_...'_

Momonga stared at the guy with glasses, rendered speechless. He had his **[Emotion Suppression]** shut off now, so he could express himself more humanly to others. He was glad that he got their names right, but his feeling of success quickly degraded into bafflement.

"Wait, wait, wait! Don't tell me… is it Rias of the Student Council President?" The thin one asked.

Momonga, again, had no words to respond. He didn't even know of Rias. Should he turn his **[Emotion Suppression]** back on? He might need it to prevent himself from running away from the two perverts to preserve whatever dignity he had left. Some of the girls were lasing him with judgemental stares, eyes filled with disgust.

'_Stop. Stop looking at me like that… please… I'm not that kinda guy.'_ Momonga was crying down inside, his dignity as a man wilting like a dying flower.

"Ahahaha! Anyways, let's get to class! We have time till class starts, so…" Both of them furtively eyed their lefts and rights as if trying to make sure no one was eavesdropping.

"Wanna go sneak in the girls' locker room?" The chubby one asked.

_'Like hell I will!'_

"N-No. I feel quite tired today. Kinda want to get to class and nap." Momonga gently shrugged his proposition off, pretending to yawn into his hand.

"Awwww, really? Come on, it's no fun without you, dude." The two whined in disappointment while Momonga cheered in his heart.

_'Yes!'_ He successfully evaded social suicide.

He stole a glance at the girls behind him. They were still giving him the stink eye before they left one by one. They were probably keeping an eye on him just in case. Momonga wanted to know what the hell Issei had been doing when he was still alive.

"Anyways, let's get to class then. We can talk until the bell starts."

Momonga sighed in relief. He had finally passed the first hurdle, yet the victory was bittersweet. Even so, he couldn't help but wonder. If the first test was this stressfully demanding, how difficult would the next ones be? He turned on his **[Emotion Suppression]** just in case, bracing himself for the trials to come.


	2. Chapter 2: New Life, Surprise Encounters

**We have delivered it. For those wondering why Momonga used his game name, it is a grey area. He cannot use his own name and it's a bit of an identity conundrum since he is in another person's body. Enjoy, you piranhas.**

* * *

The windows dominated one side of the room, rectangular panes framed by oaken brown, two by eight in the number of window panes. Through them, daylight of the early morn dyed the room, brightening the polychromatic colors through the glass panes. The ceiling and walls plastered with alabaster, a grey-black chalkboard facing the rows of wood-brown desks and chairs and the students in the room. Beside the chalkboard was a dark-green board left and right, some papers were pinned on the surface, either club advertisements or school notices.

So this was what a High School's classroom looked like, thought Momonga. In Class 2-B, Momonga perused the lively environment, taking in the idle chatter and casual faces. While enduring the shameless prattle of the two perverts, Momonga noticed several peculiarities.

One, there was an unequal gender ratio, the number of females surpassing that of males. He did not know why since he could not obtain the necessary information on the school. Two, Motoyama and Matsuda did not recall spending time with Momonga yesterday, allowing Momonga to confirm that there was something wrong with the picture. It no longer counted as Issei lying to everyone's faces. They do not know the girl Momonga saw in that park or remember speaking with Issei at all yesterday.

Were their memories altered? If so, then the person must be powerful to wipe the minds of multiple targets, unlike Momonga's **[Control Amnesia]**. The Tenth Tier spell was costly to use, and the enemy managed to use it on numerous persons. The suspect was most likely the girl he saw unless there were accomplices in the shadows. Momonga might have to consider formulating countermeasures against them if they learned of '_Issei's revival.'_

Third, the schoolgirls' uniforms were too… scandalous. No, that word was too strong. The skirts were kind of short, and sometimes their panties would peek through their pink skirts, showing their panties underneath. Momonga quickly looked away, trying to pretend that he didn't see. However, glancing to the left, right, the perverted duo were actively staring at the female bodies.

Their eyes were focused on two females, one with brown hair wrapped in twin tails and another with combed pink hair touching her neck.

"Yo, look at Katase. I think I can see her panties." The skinny one he learned as Motoyama pointed out. Peeking at him, Momonga saw him pointing at the pink-haired girl. So the pink one was Katase.

"Ehhh, but I almost saw Murayama's panties," Matsuda whined.

'_And the brown one is Murayama,'_ Momonga noted. He wouldn't join them in their activities, though. He would rather stay as quiet as a mouse and avoid social suicide.

He still couldn't believe that they were hunting for the chance to peek at the girls' panties without any regard for the consequences. Momonga had no idea if their well of shame was _that _dry or if their resistances against shame were that high.

"I think I almost saw it," Motoyama grinned.

"You two, what are you looking at?" The pink-haired girl asked, looking at his way. Momonga quickly buried his head into his arms.

"Oh, nice! I see pink!" The chubby one cheered.

The pink-haired girl was blushing red, inhaling a sharp breath before she pulled down her short red skirt with cheeks as red as roses at this point.

"Perverts!" She shouted at the two idiots.

"They're shameless." Another girl muttered.

Weren't they afraid that they would be slapped? Glancing at the pink-haired girl who Momonga learned as Katase, he saw her marching towards the two perverts and slapping their cheeks, two cracks echoing the room in tandem, catching the attention of both male and female bodies alike.

Momonga sighed as he dodged a bullet. His social interactions with the opposite sex weren't the best, and that slap would not be healthy for his already low self-esteem. While his **[Physical Damage Immunity] **might nullify the slap, his spirit might suffer. He doubted that even his **[Emotion Suppression]** could completely smother the shame that would worm its way in his gut if that happened.

Why must Issei make these guys his friends out of all people? Did his parents have to deal with his perversions every day like this? Issei must have quite a good life to be this daring.

"Motoyama! Matsuda! Don't you dare embarrass Katase anymore, or we will punish you after school!" The brown-haired girl with broad twin-tails, Murayama, warned.

"Hehehe, don't underestimate the Perverted Trio, Murayama! Our perversions know no bounds!" The skinny one Momonga knew as Motoyama snickered mischievously.

'_Don't count me in,'_ Momonga begged.

He felt two pairs of eyes burning his back.

"What about you, Issei? Did you see it?" Murayama lased her suspicion at Momonga. He did not want to share their collective penance.

"...wasn't looking." And so, Momonga spoke the truth.

"Ehhhhhhhh? Come on, man! Look at her! There's no way you wouldn't ignore the pretty pink silk underneath that cute skirt." Matsuda urged.

Momonga's patients reached a snapping point. He would _not_ endure social ruin at this point.

"Like hell I will look!" Momonga snapped with an uproar.

His response drew a collective silence from the perverted duo. The way they were staring at him was worrisome like they were looking at a strange animal that invaded their habitat.

"...what?" Even Murayama and Katase were shocked upon hearing Momonga's response. Was Issei's reputation as a lecher so profound that his denying the chance to perform lewd acts would warrant suspicion?

"...uh… what?" Momonga asked back.

"...dude, you're actually saying 'no'?" Matsuda asked as if Momonga had committed a taboo.

"I, uh," Momonga thought fast, "I'm quite tired today. Had slept late last night so…" Momonga sheepishly rubbed his hair, awkwardly smiling before he buried his head into his arms, pretending to sleep before class starts.

The girls stared at him with equal awkwardness, sharing the Pervert Duo's shock. The other classmates, male and female, shared their bafflement. Momonga silently cursed Issei for leaving such a terrible reputation behind for him to endure. He could feel the eyes pressing on his back like bricks on a wall.

"...is the world ending?" Matsuda whispered. Momonga could hear him lucidly.

"Nah, he does seem tired, so let's give him a break." Motoyama waved him.

"Ahhhhh…. I wonder what color Murayama's panties are." The chubby one muttered absent-mindedly, shifting their conversation back to their antics.

'_Are you serious?'_ Momonga gawped, his face hidden in his arms. Pererochino would've definitely bonded with them like bread and butter if they met to his sister's chagrin.

"Should we sneak into the Girls' Locker Room and check?" The skinny one asked.

"Let's do it."

'_Don't drag me into your antics,'_ Momonga pleaded. If they somehow asked him to join their quest, Momonga would use **[Time Stop]** and **[Perfect Illusion]** to escape, and caution be damned. That was a line he refused to cross, no matter what.

Both perverts slapped their hands together in unison, cementing their unwritten pact to invade the females' sanctuary. Momonga only hid his face in his arms, not wanting any part in their shenanigans. Thankfully, the teacher entered the room and began the class as the bell rang, starting the first period of today's schedule.

* * *

"I'm home."

Momonga called out from the front door.

"Ohhhh, welcome back, Issei. Are you going to Motoyama's place today?" Issei's mother asked.

"No. I have some studying to do." Momonga replied as he took off his shoes.

The mother perked her ears upon hearing the word 'study.' She quickly ran from the kitchen to greet her son, only to screech to a halt upon seeing him returning home… with large books in hand.

"I-Issei… w-what are those?" She asked, raising a shaking finger at the large books in his arms.

"Textbooks."

"Hah?" The mother rubbed her eyes and blinked many times. "You mean they're not porn?"

Her son usually wouldn't study like this. He actually brought home books from school, actual books.

"...no. They're not porn. They're books I borrowed from the school library," he blandly answered.

Her son had never studied until the last moments before as far as she knew if he was failing. The high school semester was still young, and her son was already hitting the books. Seeing her son carrying his books upstairs only made her gawp from a mix of shock and jubilation, happy that her son was taking his school life seriously.

"Ohhh, wait till his father hears about this~" Issei's mother smiled with hearts aflutter as she returned to the kitchen with a big meal in mind.

Momonga sighed as he entered his room, closing the door behind him. He placed the books on his computer desk, sighing as he tossed his bag at the foot of his bed, exhausted. He was exhausted mentally, not physically.

High school education had surpassed his expectations.

Momonga was not prepared for the lessons despite his age reaching past thirty. It was the consequence of skipping Junior High, so he attentively wrote down notes the best he could to study later on. Even so, he held envy for the previous owner of this body as he sat down on his bed to ruminate. Issei had it all, family, friends, and a healthy school life. Part of him wanted to be in Issei's shoes, to experience the happiness his world denied him for so long, but Momonga knew that it wasn't his right to take it. This life still belonged to Issei.

Returning to his current situation, Momonga was glad that he no longer had a need for food and sleep. He could use the time to catch up to the Highschool level as well as use studying as an excuse to stay up all night to explore Kuoh or experiment with his skills. His time in school wrought nostalgic memories of his elementary school, though the contents differed.

For one, his elementary school did not serve meat and vegetables. The cafeteria he knew served artificial consumables, nutrient pastes, and supplements due to the worldwide pollution. Kuoh Academy, however, provided quite an assortment of options for the students to take, well-cooked meat and vegetables usually reserved for the wealthy back in Momonga's depressing world. He did make sure to avoid the perverted duo on his way to sample high school cuisine, though they were persistent as hell in trying to convince him to sit with them.

After his classes ended, after successfully avoiding any conversations with his classmates, especially the perverted duo, Momonga decided to go to the library for the sake of self-study and catch up, but he got lost trying to find the right books to take home. Unfortunately, there wasn't a book on the history of Kuoh Academy in the library, so he had to borrow a textbook for math, English, literature, etc. He couldn't find a simple study guide, so he must resort to the undiluted text for study.

Even though the size of each book is less than half a meter thick, Momonga found them surprisingly light. On his way back, he attracted a few curious stares his way. At this point, he wouldn't be surprised if the students that knew Issei found him carrying big books home for studying strange, miraculous even. Even if he was before ten years of age, Momonga had to fight to keep up with his lessons due to him partaking part-time jobs while he was still at school, so he tapped into his childhood experiences to guide him once more.

"Now then, time to get to work…" Momonga sighed as he got from his bed and seated himself in his desk, taking the math book first. There were many terms Momonga wasn't familiar with. He could calculate things well due to his occupation as a salaryman, but he was unfamiliar with some of the mathematical terminology. After that, there was also history and literature, Momonga's most significant weaknesses. His occupation did not deal with Japanese History, and Momonga never took time to memorize the fine details of the Japanese language.

After studying in his room until six after twelve, the twilight hours, Momonga rose from his chair, having another matter he must attend. There was a suspicion he must confirm around this hour alone, away from prying eyes. After returning home just when the sun was starting to set, Momonga used **[Greater Teleportation]**, warping back into the park where he rose as Issei Hyōdō behind an alley a street away and walked towards the park to inspect the state of the crime scene. After looking around for any public response to the blood in the park, making sure no one was present, he walked towards the fountain, not to scavenge for clues but to confirm the public response to the crime.

Once Momonga arrived at the scene, he found not a single crack or drop of blood stained the flat asphalt of the road surrounding the circular fountain. There was no presence of law enforcement cordoning the scene of the crime. That should not be possible. Looking around, he saw not a single police vehicle parked around the area. That amount of blood should've caused an uproar. Did the murderers cover it up? But how did they clean the blood without leaving traces of their presence?

Walking to the place he woke up yesterday, Momonga knelt a knee and placed his hand on the abrasive floor. He inspected stone to see if there were any traces of chemicals used to clean his blood, but he found none. The murderer used supernatural means to clean the scene of the crime.

Did the murderer know he was still alive? Yeah, who else could've cleaned this place other than the murderer? This was why Momonga wanted to wait until past sunset when the darkness overcame the daylight sky, to shake off anyone that might tail him. Momonga clicked his tongue when he learned they were targeting him already.

Digging into his pocket, Momonga pulled out a feather, a black feather bearing the color of a crow. It was a feather Momonga scavenged to scan via **[All Appraisal Magic Item]** in an experiment to verify whether or not the spell could divulge the history of its owner. He did not learn of the name, however, only the species.

"Fallen Angel…" Momonga muttered.

He could not learn the woman's name since the feather was not crafted by any means. It was strange, though, being able to learn about the owner of the feather but the owner's species. What was the line between growing something like hair and crafting?

"Didn't think Fallen Angels could mingle with Humans, though," Momonga muttered to himself as he continued staring at the feather.

In Yggdrasil, a Fallen Angel was just a term for angels that turned into demons once they fell from grace, cast down from heaven, and thrown into the bowels of Hell. According to Yggdrasil lore, angels that wish to reject the grace of God were exiled from the plane of Heaven into Hell where they would be reborn as a member of the Demon Race. It was the reason why there were Demons that bore a resemblance to the Angel Race.

Because of this, Momonga confirmed that the woman wasn't a Player like him. No Player had the option to become a Fallen Angel unless they wished for Fallen Angels to exist in Yggdrasil via Ouroboros, which he doubted the shitty devs would allow. Whatever world he was in, Momonga was confident that it might not follow the rules he knew.

As he stared at the feather, he felt a strange shift in the air. The air warped and contorted around Momonga, colors melting into strobing waves. A strange sense of isolation rattled Momonga, a feeling he could not explain.

"So that is a Fallen Angel feather in your fingers. Whose feather you're holding? Raynare's? Miltelt's? No, judging by its tone, it is Raynare's most likely." A voice called out from the shadows behind Momonga.

Emerging into the street lamps, a man came into his view. The stranger was a man bearing the appearance of middle age, his dark blue eyes staring at Momonga through the thin stranding locks of his dark-grey hair under his black fedora. His pale gray trench coat covered his white dress shirt above his black pants and shoes, his matching ascot tie peeking through the opening. He removed his hands out of his pockets, showing the black gloves hugging his hands to his wrists.

Mid-walk, wings of dirty black sprouted from the man's back, revealing themselves to Momonga to his surprise and leaving a trail behind. The man wasn't human, a Fallen Angel like the girl he saw after his awakening.

"Although I find it strange. The last time she was active was when she killed the boy with the Sacred Gear. I thought we erased all memories of her afterward." The man walked towards Momonga but stopped in his tracks. His eyes dilated, his gaze growing more focused at Momonga's visage.

"Wait," he scrutinized Momonga, his gazing licking him from head to toe. "You look familiar. Ah, I remember now." The man muttered under his breath. "But you should've been dead. To think that Raynare failed to finish a mere human off properly."

'_Eh?'_ Momonga stared at him, baffled. Did he encounter a lead already? What's with that guy spouting all of the information on him like some lousy script?

'_Wait...'_ Momonga silently cast **[Mana Essence]** to check the man's Mana capacity. There was a blue bar hovering above his head, the amount akin to a Level Ten Mage.

"To think I would have to clean up after her. You may have more luck than the other lesser humans, but I am afraid that meeting me has ended your streak of fortune."

In his right hand, a double-bladed spear formed, tightly gripped. Momonga blinked as he silently cast **[Life Essence]** and checked the man's health during his monologue. His health…

'_It's just… so… damn low. Why is it so low?'_ Momonga couldn't phrase how pitiful the man's HP was. It averaged his worth to around Level thirteen.

'_Wait, what if it's a trap?'_ Momonga's paranoia set in.

In Yggdrasil, misdirection and deception was a crucial tool to victory. Earlier this morning, Momonga hid his HP and MP with **[False Data: Life]** and **[False Data: Mana]** in case he was caught by a Divination specialist. However, he did not expect to receive a surprise encounter this early on. He didn't even sense the guy coming up to him. He needed to test the limit of the man's HP using one Spell he knew would bypass whatever magical defenses he had. He had his Death Knights prepped and **[Explosion]**, the Spell not the Skill, ready to knock him back. Even if he was a Fallen Angel like the woman he named Raynare, Momonga had a Spell just for evil beings stored in his left arm as well.

**[Maximize Magic: **_**Reality Slash**_**]**

Momonga threw his arm obliquely, throwing a distorting blade of sundered space-time at the man as the surprise attack hit him from the man's right side to his left clavicle. Without delay, Momonga leaped back, cycling through the Spells in his repertoire. The ability to pick Spells from memory was more effective than actively having to select a Spell to slot in for later use.

"Now then…" Momonga paused upon seeing blood splashing from the diagonal cut he made.

"Eh?" Momonga uttered in surprise. The man's HP went from green to nil in an instant.

"Eh?" The man uttered with equal surprise, albeit with a hint of terror laced in his tone, slowly looking down at the bleeding gash strewn across his chest.

He suddenly lost all feeling in his left arm and his legs. Why was he bleeding? When he placed a finger into his wound, the man watched with mute horror as he found himself sliding down from his lower torso, dropping to the floor as his eyes wandered to the bleeding half that was his lower torso. He watched as his lower half fell to its knees before falling flat, spilling blood and intestines onto the asphalt.

"I'm… possi… ble…" The man uttered with what little breath he had left.

Momonga could imagine the terror that swelled within that man's eyes when the man looked down only to see his liver and lungs slowly falling out. He was dead, cleaved in half from a simple Spell, albeit the highest damage-dealing one, Momonga threw at him.

"...huh." It felt quite anticlimactic like all of his worries wasted for naught - the Villain of his story appearing only for him to die the next second early in the '_Prologue_'.

The space around them reverted back to normal, all distortions ceased as the starry night returned with the view of the buildings around them. The strange sense of isolation disappeared within Momonga when they did.

"Well, at least I got some answers out of this," Momonga muttered as he watched the spear in that man's hand dissipate in a sparkle of light as all color in his eyes faded when his life finally bled out.

Now he was alone with a bisected corpse… wait, he was alone with a corpse out in the open. Momonga threw his head left and right, seeing no presence of people around him. Time to make a break for it before any eyewitnesses caught him in the act, so he teleported back him without a second thought.

* * *

A corpse of a Fallen Angel was found in a park.

Alone in the park, several figures stood under the half-moon, looking down at the bisected corpse with interest. In the darkness, crimson locks as soft as silk billowed from the night breeze, the moonlight shining off of the owner's blue eyes while dimly lighting three other faces.

The aftermath of the murder caught the attention of a patrolling Familiar, but as soon as it uncovered the true nature of the corpse, it alarmed its Devil-Master of its presence. Thus, Rias Gremory and her Peerage arrived at the scene, inspecting the stage at the twelve of night.

The leader of the Peerage recognized the location, the same place she found traces of Hyōdō Issei surviving the attempted murder. Her mind drifted to the boy she tried to recruit but failed through unknown means. The young teenager returned to school to her surprise, seemingly oblivious to his surprise encounter with the dangerous element. However, when he returned, there was something different about him. Koneko didn't get the chance to confront him since he was abnormally wary of his surroundings, nearly catching Koneko following him between the periods.

As for the corpse, it was a male Fallen Angel, his identity still unknown since his standing in the Grigori was inconsequential even by his own kind. As for his death, it was blatant, a diagonal separation of the upper and lower halves - from left to right, from waist to shoulder.

"Yūto-kun. Would you kindly deliver your opinion of how he died?" Rias asked, gesturing to the blonde Devil beside her.

Yūto Kiba was her knight, her sworn sword. He was a handsome young man, his blonde hair short, eyes bluish-gray, and his left eye holding a mole beneath it. His attire was the Kuoh Academy boys' school uniform, constituting of a black blazer with white accents over a white, long-sleeved dress shirt and a black ribbon on the collar, matching black pants, and brown dress shoes.

"Yes, Buchō." Yūto walked towards the corpse, knelt a leg, and placed his hand on the bottom of the upper half, inspecting the cross-section of the cut, which was covered in blood.

"The cut is strange, immaculate. It cleaved through him like paper. See the cross-section of the spine? No cracks emerged from the impact, but other than that, I don't know." Yūto gave his opinion.

"I see…" Rias rubbed her chin.

There was a report of a Stray Devil nesting in this territory, but the Gremory Clan had yet to locate the Devil. Rias also knew the identity of the Stray Devil, so she was sure that if that one were to fight a Fallen Angel, there would've been scars of battle strewing the area.

From the face of the man contorting to speechless horror, Rias wondered who or what could've killed him. She slid her sight down from the face to the midsection. He released his wings when he was alive to the killer. She looked behind the corpse, seeing a line of feathers starting from meters away.

"So the Fallen Angel was confronting a person…" Rias murmured to herself.

"Ara ara, so you have already concluded, Rias-san?" Another girl, a brunette with a mature figure and radiance wearing a miko outfit, asked.

"Mhm, you know me so well, Akeno." Rias giggled.

She turned to the rest of her peerage and began the narration of her version of the events.

"The Fallen Angel seemed to have met an unfortunate end. The encounter is either by chance or attempted assassination, but I don't see who would go after a nameless Fallen Angel, so it must be a chance encounter." Rias deduced.

"Hmmm… who… is it… then?" The petite girl with short white hair.

"Koneko-chan, that is… I don't know." Rias, however, confessed. "This is as far as I can go, evidence wise."

However, for some reason, she had an idea who the culprit could be. A Devil from another Clan couldn't do this, she would know, but out of all noticeable individuals, there was one that caught her mind's eye.

"Ara ara, judging by your face, I take it you have an idea?" Akeno asked, giggling playfully as she ran a hand up her breast.

Rias giggled in response.

"Well, it is still a hunch. I just need to confirm it before I jump to conclusions, yes?"

Her Peerage eyed her with mixed responses, one curious, the other interested, and the last in pondering. Rias had a plan. If that person managed to come here again, then Rias had a way to confirm it.

* * *

The sun rose and repeated the early morn, marking the beginning of another day.

Momonga stretched his arms and legs outside, glad that it was a weekend, freeing him from school as he walked down the sidewalk with a tray of takoyaki in hand, plopping one steaming ball of flour and octopus into his mouth after another. He was surprised that he could even eat despite him being somewhat Undead, a weird fusion of living and Undead. He was having fun experimenting with his taste buds, sampling the cuisine that existed before the ruination of the planet before throwing the plastic tray into a trash bin after eating all of the octopus balls.

He was heading down the street, strolling back to the park to inspect the damages to sate his curiosity. Would the corpse he abandoned remain in place? Momonga started to regret not taking the corpse with him. He wanted to test whether Resurrection was still possible in this world or not with the corpse, interrogate him, then practice a few of his more convoluted spells on him. He wanted to practice his **[Control Amnesia]** on the idiot after wringing the secret of memory erasure from him.

There was a problem after confirming the man's Level after his death. How did the man manage to erase the existence of the woman called Raynare from the minds of others? His MP wasn't enough to manipulate memories like his **[Control Amnesia]** could. The mechanics behind the mass amnesia must have some Mana-efficient trick to it. Was it something like **[Mass Dominate Species] **or mind control? Mass hypnosis?

He wanted to learn more about the one called Raynare, who she was, how she killed Issei, why she killed him… shame. Another reason why he was returning so he could confirm whether he could retrieve the corpse for Resurrection and otherwise. He just needed a right place to hide the body.

'_I feel like a crazy serial killer…'_ Momonga thought to himself.

He was slightly concerned with his train of thought sometimes when he turned on his **[Emotion Suppression]**, though he still wasn't sure how he could turn it on and off unlike before in Yggdrasil. Still, it helped him keep his emotions in check under pressure. As for a place to store a corpse, he had a few locations in mind, his parents' basement included. He just needed to drain the blood first and get rid of the evidence afterward.

When Momonga arrived at the park, he found no corpse in sight, no blood whatsoever. Nary a single trace remained, the scene picked clean — all except for a small pile of black, crow-like feathers.

"Could they be responsible for cleaning the mess up?" Momonga muttered, referring to the Fallen Angels.

How'd they even manage to clear the crime scene so fast? This time, they seemed to have dropped some of the feathers. He couldn't blame them since the man's death was very spontaneous. The feathers could pass off as crow feathers, so he didn't believe any bystander could notice the difference.

He should learn that method if he got the chance.

Momonga walked to the circular, gray fountain again, feeling a strange nostalgia when he remembered Yggdrasil. This spot looked like an ideal respawn point, the start of a journey worthy of eons. He remembered his friends, his Guild… he still has the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown. It was just in the red gauntlet stuck to his left arm like the world item in the stomach of his avatar.

Looking at the fountain in the center of the enclosure of trees, the circular basin filled with water gushing from the undulating pillar at the center that held two flat circular slabs of stone atop one another, Momonga found the fountain to be a recurring theme at this point.

"Still, I wonder if I can locate the corpse with the feathers…" Momonga muttered as he turned around, looking at the feathers on the ground.

It was quite big to mistake it for a crow's feather now that he looked at it properly. Looking around the park, he started to take notice of the people around him. A few early joggers were jogging around the fountain and out of the park, kindly elder standing off the road, sipping his cup of coffee in the morning, and a girl wearing a succubus cosplay outfit…

Wait, _what_?

"Hello, here." The girl handed him what seemed to be a flier, a black one.

Momonga stared at the flier in his hands as he looked at the woman, blinking in confusion as she left. Momonga had no comment for her. She left as soon as she came. What did she even give him? Momonga shifted his attention to the flier, a paper with a black sigil etched below the following words…

"'Your wish will be granted?'" Momonga repeated the words on the paper, confused. However, in the paper, the additional content was something he couldn't believe.

"Including women, boobs, wealth, a… harem?" Momonga blinked twice.

He looked at the girl, seeing her back. Her hair was short brown, her white skirt barely covered her undergarments, her short-sleeved pink puffy shirt holding two small bat wings behind. What was with her? Was she asking for a boyfriend or something?

Momonga quickly scanned the paper with **[All Appraisal Magic Item]**, wringing the truth of the paper in his hand just in case. He was surprised that the paper was indeed a magic item. It wasn't a wish-granting object, but a summoning item of sorts. The creator of the paper was not on it, but the name of the species intended to be summoned was. He shouldn't be surprised at this point, but seeing the name of the species did anyways.

"Devil…"

Momonga had enough on his plate dealing with the Fallen Angels, but demons as well? Momonga looked back at the girl, now highly suspicious of her. He needed to deal with the Fallen Angels quickly before moving onto them.


	3. Chapter 3: New World Changes

**Fun fact I learned. Zaralann told me that the reason why Devils have big boobs is because of their species' genes to be beautiful, a canon trivia the author himself stated.**

* * *

"Say, don't you think Issei has been weird lately?" Motoyama asked, staring at the third member of their trio.

"Weird? Which part? The fact that he's not hanging out with us anymore or that… he is studying? After class!" Matsuda pointed his finger at the third member of the trio, '_Issei_' currently reading through his notebook next to an open textbook with a focus that was reserved for the leering at female bodies.

The boy was going through his notes, flipping through his pages one after another, instead of leering at the girls around him with such intense focus. Some of the girls were eyeing the teenager with interest, mostly because he was studying that hard despite his infamous reputation. It wasn't even a test week, as well. Some still held suspicion for the member of the Perverted Trio, however, but they could not suppress their curiosity. Issei would usually laze around or speak ridiculous nonsense, so seeing this serious side to him was a surprise, refreshing for most, baffling for two.

After the estranged member reached the last page, he closed his notebook and began to pack up, about to leave the class without giving the Perverted Duo a greeting. He did not even throw a passing glance at Murayama and Katase with such a rushed hurry that they grew enamored with his sudden shift of behavior despite them being so close to him.

"U-Um…" Katase reached out. "Is everything okay?"

"Katase, don't speak to him. He might say something dirty and ask to peek at your panties." Murayama chastised.

"Why would I do that? Who in the right mind would ask a girl for something so dumb?" Issei asked, turning to them with a quirked brow.

Murayama and Katase both took a step back. Motoyama and Matsua dropped their jaws at his words. This was not the usual Issei they knew. Although Issei wouldn't directly ask for a peek at the girls' panties on most occasions, he had not joined Motoyama and Matsuda for anything perverted in a few days.

There was an awkwardness hanging in the air, and it was blanketing them. The girls did not know what to ask of him next, but something about this man seemed… _different_, somehow - almost like something unpleasant was no longer there, replaced by something else, something better.

They cannot tell, so a new curiosity burned inside them. There was an enigmatic allure they could not explain as well.

"You… are working quite hard. Did something come up?" Katase asked, glancing at the notebook in his right arm.

"Just… something came up. I got a lot of catching up to do, honestly." Issei awkwardly chuckled, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

"What are you studying, anyway?" Murayama tilted to peek at the textbook under his armpit.

"Just… math." Issei looked away, trying not to show his embarrassment. "I'm quite behind, honestly."

"I can see that," Murayama smirked. "You're not very bright."

"Ugh, please. Don't remind me." Issei hung his head with shame, sagging overdramatically.

The two girls giggled. Since when did Issei have a good sense of humor?

"Are you having trouble with today's lessons?" Katase asked, curiously peeking at his textbook as well.

"No… well, somewhat. I need to get some learning materials on the way home, though. I want to see if I can get a study guide online." The girls stared at him with genuine surprise.

Issei has grown more mature and… they don't know. Likable? There was a presence around him that made him easier to communicate.

"Ehhhhhhhhhhh?! Are you serious? Matsuda just bought the new edition of Kaben Rider Pinky! Don't you wanna come with us and watch?" Motoyama cut himself in with Matsuda, eyes sparkling with anticipation as they looked at the confused Issei.

"Nah, I got other things to do. Maybe next time," Issei shot them down faster than the speed of sound without an iota of hesitation.

"_Who are you, and what have you done with Issei_?!" They shouted, accusingly pointing their fingers at his face.

"You would never turn down rewatching all of the new seasons with us!" Matsuda shouted, tears running down behind his glasses.

"What has happened to you?! Have you lost sight of the glory of Rider Pink!? " Motoyama followed up with tears in his eyes as well.

Issei looked perturbed by their reaction as he watched his friends drop to their knees, bawling their eyes out loudly enough for others to hear. The other students spectated the two bawling perverts with some interests.

"I'm… I'll just leave while you two are at it." Issei awkwardly smiled as he left the room, not wanting to endure more of their idiotic antics.

"Um…" Murayama and Katase looked at Issei as he left the room, walking out the door without stopping as he left his perverted friends behind, not even looking back at the two.

"There is something different about Issei today… do you feel it, too?" Katase asked.

"I can feel it, but I… don't know…" Murayama could not explain it.

Like there was sudden gravitation around him that they couldn't ignore, a magnetic pull that shows once they bathed in it long enough. In any case, for some reason, they liked that they no longer needed to worry about Issei anymore. They turned to the bawling idiots, grimacing once they saw snot dripping from their nostrils.

Murayama took two steps back, pulling Katase with her.

As for Momonga outside, posing as Issei, he sighed in relief. He managed to fool them for now, but he wasn't sure how long he could keep this up. Their suspicion was starting to ripen, taking fruit. He had a plan to solve that dilemma, however, it was too late to use that card. For now, he must unravel Issei's murder, the ghosts haunting the back of his shadow.

His main _Quest_ had just begun.

* * *

He returned home at last, with more books in his hands.

Momonga did not enjoy that encounter. The others were starting to catch on. If he used that card, he might be able to mitigate the damage enough to integrate himself in Issei's life.

"Hah… I feel like a _body snatcher_," Momonga muttered as he closed the door behind him.

"Issei, welcome home," Issei's mother called.

"I'm back, mom." Momonga still cringed whenever he called the woman his mother. He felt so guilty, pretending to be her son, but it wasn't his fault. He prayed that if God existed, he would forgive him.

"I prepared a sandwich in the fridge if you need it!" She cheerfully informed.

"Alright!" The mention of the sandwich made Momonga remember his mother. She was a very hardworking woman, someone Momonga wished was still there.

He sighed as he headed upstairs and into his room, dropping his backpack and his books down on the desk. Despite suffering no physical exhaustion due to his undead nature, Momonga felt tired, mentally drained from today's classes. The amount of effort he had to pour into his attention span and processing power was staggering in his standards. It was reminding him of his school days, doing odd jobs while still in school, only this time he had limitless stamina and the luxury to stay awake as long as he willed it. It would've been better if he was Reincarnated as Hyōdō Issei instead of hijacking his life after he died, at least he thought that Issei died when he seized the reigns. The odds of an average teenager surviving such blood loss was lower than one percent as far as he knew.

His mind drifted to his weekend after receiving that suspicious summoning scroll. Momonga had to accelerate his efforts ever since he learned that Devils were after him.

Momonga had learned some significant changes to his powers after experimenting with his world. One, he had no Level-Cap. He even gained a level in Fighter when he practiced with weapons he had in his Inventory. Two, his Creation Spells were permanent, no need to waste his Mana to sustain the existence of his weapons.

As for three… Momonga needed to double-check his experiment. It was a side-project he made to store his guinea pigs as well as creating a base of his operations, one that produced outstanding results beyond his expectations. After changing his clothes, Momonga headed downstairs from his room, descending further into the basement.

The number of species that could endanger his safety was enough for him to consider pure Angels added to the equation as well. He needed a secret base for his operations, an emergency sanctuary should anything endanger his life. Once he entered the basement, ignoring the flashing dim light and miscellanea, he walked upon a flat wall of white plaster and phased through the wall. After all, the wall was an illusion to hide the secret dungeon Momonga made with his **[Wish Upon A Star]** Spell, an expansive world hidden he carved from a slice of YGGDRASIL Magic.

In short, beneath the Hyōdō household laid a network of tunnels Momonga managed to dig out with Magic. On Saturday afternoon, in the outskirts of the city, Momonga tested his **[Wish Upon A Star]** to alter the weather, slightly removing some clouds for the blue ceiling to shine brighter, more unobscured. Momonga performed the magic in the mountains to test whether any supernatural beings around could detect his Super Tier Magic and come to his area while he was under **[Perfect Illusion]**. Not a single person arrived at the scene in the open streets after a few hours, Momonga even stationed an Eyeball Corpse in the area to watch out for arrivals. None had arrived despite the hours, but Momonga still cast **[Counter Detection]** and other layers of protection upon himself when he made the dungeon just in case.

He managed to confirm that neither the Devils or Fallen Angels could detect Super Tier Spells, which was baffling. At least he knew that they wouldn't notice him using that Spell at least.

Normally, **[Wish Upon A Star]** was a Spell Momonga would only use as a very last resort since it cost him EXP. However, there was a peculiarity he found upon entering this world.

His Mana instead of EXP fueled the Spell. All of his EXP-fueled skills were replaced by MP, meaning he no longer had the risk of using his EXP for his **[Create Greater Undead]** and such. However, the cost was still expensive. Creating his dungeon drained nearly all of his MP, leaving him vulnerable for the meanwhile, and that was from wishing up a secret underground dungeon.

Momonga looked inside, retaking the result of his wish. Walls of unknown metals colored the ceiling and floor, the hall square in structure and its surfaces flat like paper. Torchlights of arcane blue illuminated the darkness from the walls and ceiling, allowing the residents to see the underground with the light of day. And that didn't account for the rooms the maze interconnected.

Deeper inside, Momonga walked, hands behind his back, his face hardened by cold agenda. The illuminated halls shone the presence of dwellers within. Bone and rotten flesh reflected the light pale and rotten grey, figures of undeath roaming within. Momonga lined the halls with his summons, Death Knights, Soul Eaters and more, from Lesser to Greater Undead conjured by Skills and Spells to fill the empty space.

After all, what's a secret base with no protection? As for the Undead, Momonga found that they wouldn't vanish like usual for some reason. His Undead Summons were permanent without any costs. Why or how he did not know which brought much concern to the hardcore Player. Even so, Momonga took his time summoning his Undead, eight greater undead, twenty Mid-Tier Undead, and forty Lesser Undead, plus others conjured through Spells. His entourage included even an Overlord Chronos and General, contingencies in case of powerful reinforcement.

Momonga mused what he should do if his parents managed to find this place. Maybe he could cast **[Anti Life Cocoon]** at the entrance so he could prevent them from stumbling inside the fantastical '_Realm,_' he carved out.

'_Oh, right, I should soundproof the entrance.'_ Momonga remembered.

He did not want the echoes of the screams to attract their curiosities. The parents should not witness the suffering he would inflict upon the unfortunate souls he might encounter. He needed to test his abilities, after all.

Shaking himself free from distractions, Momonga delved deeper inside his base, a sharp turn to the right and left, stopping by a door of adamantine. Pulling it open, Momonga entered, seeing a circular table and chairs made of fine YGGDRASIL metals glittering lustrous colors under the arcane light of the spacious square room.

In this room, he decided to be his Strategist Room, where he would write his plans and notes for his quests to keep himself in check. There was a room he had reserved for torturing the prisoners, though **[Wish Upon A Star]** didn't spawn an operating table. It just gave him a dungeon with some furniture, after all, but it did leave him much open space for liberal use.

It reminded him of his time in YGGDRASIL, refurbishing the newly conquered Nazarick with his friends, his guildmates of Ainz Ooal Gown. Momonga looked up the ceiling with nostalgia, longing for those days again.

"I wonder if they were also reincarnated…" Momonga muttered, wondering if they suffered the same fate as him.

If he suffered the fate of Reincarnation, then wouldn't others would as well? However, Momonga did not spot any evidence of other Players, and the world was still modern. He would cross that bridge once he established his foothold in this world, fully prepared to take on all the hurdles this world could throw at him.

Seated in his chair, Momonga muddled through his inventory, the same inventory space he had for storing items in YGGDRASIL. Slipping his hand in the void, a dark pocket space, Momonga pulled out a paper holding the map of the Kuō and laid on the table. He printed this map yesterday in a public library, finding it more accessible to obtain than purchasing one from a store.

Next, Momonga took out more than ten scrolls and laid it beside the paper map one by one. Without any Class Levels invested in the Divination branch, Momonga must use scrolls to compensate for his lackings. His reserves were minimal, but considering the possibilities of this world, Momonga had a feeling he could replenish them in no time. His hand disappeared in the mouth of his inventory as he took out his scrolls, piling them on the table one by one. Momonga had the Spells in his inventory, but he wanted to test the scrolls.

Once the amount was sufficient, Momonga picked up one of the scrolls and tossed it in the air as it unfolded, burning up in arcane blue.

**[False Cover]**

The room glowed, a palpable shroud enveloping his form. Taking another scroll, he repeated the process.

**[Counter Detection]**

Momonga repeated this process, layering protections and countermeasures one by one until he was fully prepared. He was using a primary method to PK other Players back in YGGDRASIL, gathering as much information on the opposition as possible and swiftly decide the matter with an ambush.

It was one of the lessons Punnito Moe wrote in his book, '_PKing for Dummies.'_

Taking out one last scroll, Momonga cast **[Locate Item]**, hoping to find Raynare's feather, or the highest congregation of her feathers on her wings, preferably. Luckily, when if there was more than one copy of the item Momonga was locating, the Spell would converge on the highest number of them first.

Momonga looked at the map, seeing that the most significant congregation was somewhere in Kuōh. He wasn't familiar with that area, so he took out two more scrolls, **[Clairvoyance]** and **[Crystal Mirror]**, burning those scrolls so he could receive a better vista of the location.

An ovular screen appeared, the rims of its contours like strobing shimmers of golden light, holding the live recording of the bucolic building in question. The location was like a basilica, a church building of sorts, fitting for the theme of a Fallen Angel. Momonga could sense the presence of the woman inside as the image flickered, another scene swapped. Inside the room, in the vestibule, a large cross sat on the nave.

Beside the cross, Momonga could see the Fallen Angel he saw on the day one, the brunette clad in scanty black called Raynare. The woman was speaking with two others.

One was a tall and buxom woman with brown eyes and long, navy blue hair that obscured her right eye. Her attire consisted of a maroon, trench coat-like top with a wide collar, a matching miniskirt, and black heeled shoes. The trenchcoat top was open at her chest, giving a view to her breasts and cleavage. She also wore a gold necklace around her neck. She appears to wear a white shirt underneath her top, but it can only be seen from the bottom.

The other was a girl with blonde hair styled into twin-tails and blue eyes.

She wore a Gothic Lolita attire, which consisted of a black Lolita dress with white frills, a large black bow on the front, and a green jewel embedded in the collar, white thigh-high socks, and black shoes. She also wore a large black bow on top of her hair.

Their mouths move in a conversation behind the screen; the concern on their faces was evident to any observer. Momonga could not hear through their voices or decipher the words from their lip patterns, but what he received was enough. Zooming out, the screen left the building to inspect the surrounding areas. Momonga quirked a brow when he saw some robed clergymen stalking the outdoor perimeter. There also seemed to be some warped space surrounding the area. A defensive warding barrier, perhaps?

So the women had a cult backing them.

Momonga wondered where'd they come from? They looked like priests, though. He was sure that they were wearing silver crosses of the biblical Chris, the kind he would see on good-aligned human NPCs in YGGDRASIL. Their robes were black, some of them were smoking in idle chatter, and there were even stray ones playing with their guns, one of them rotating his around the trigger in which his thumb twirled. Who the heck were these guys? Momonga had so many questions right now.

Momonga wished to take care of them before he executed his failsafe plan to integrate him into Issei's life as a new person. Then he would deal with the Devils after them. His attack force was small but sufficient enough to prevent the opposition from fleeing while overwhelming them into submission.

As for the female Fallen Angels, he had many questions in store for them. The question was if they were willing to answer them without forcing him to use lethal force.

* * *

How could strays survive in the world where Angels, Devils, and Fallen Angels reign? Ones who fell out of favor with either of the Three Biblical Factions?

For example, followers of the Church exiled from by the theurgic decree of the celestials above. They took shelter among fellow exiles, those cast out long before them, like following like. Under the Fallen Angels, they developed an unwritten hierarchy, them being below the Fallen Angels that took them in.

The priests following Raynare were heretics, those committing crimes while hiding behind the name of God, not for it. Outcasts whose names were forgotten, serving the whims of a trio of Fallen without question. In short, they were nothing more but the grunts of grunts, the lowest mercenaries of the bunch.

As night came, the Fallen Angels erected their bounded field, a technique designed to repel the humans to preserve their anonymity. After all, humans were a resource to all of the Three Biblical Factions, like cattle, to be bred and harvested. The barrier could also repel other supernatural beings, but it was fragile if the others exerted enough mystical might onto it. The membrane was breachable, easily infiltrated, as anything stronger would attract much-unwanted attention as well.

The night shone after twilight, darkness drowning the vestigial sunlight of dusk under the horizon of the land, and gradual glimmers of the stars flooding the dark sky. The air was silent minus the idle chatter of the exiled priests as they stood on guard outside Raynare's chapel.

"It's quiet as usual today…" A bored man in robes, back against the wall, spoke to quiet the constant chirping of crickets.

"Are you trying to incur Satan's wrath on us? It's better this way." An older man informed, leaning on the bricked wall beside the bored man.

The bored man didn't answer. Routine inaction was more favorable than anything for men like them, even though it was grinding to the nerves.

"Hah, ah man, I wanna go to town and hit some girls, if you know what I mean." The bored man mused his thoughts aloud.

"Shooting Devil girls in the head, you mean?" The older man joked.

"Oh yeah." The bored man flashed a grin, emanating a twisted lust rarely found in men.

"Heh. I'm up for killing Devils too. Too bad that bastard Freed got the Devil-hunting job while the rest of us got the grunt work. I could go for a refreshing change of scenery." Another priest joined the conversation, standing beside the two while rubbing the silver cross in his hands.

The way he rubbed the cross was aversive, almost as if he was molesting the symbol of Chris with a pervasive grin on his face.

"Oh, how they scream before we kill them. Think Raynare would call me to her bed if I present her the head of a Noble Clansman?" The formerly bored man asked.

"Hah! Well, maybe if it was one of the Gremories, then…" The three cackled together, their twisted mindsets resounding in harmony in the silent night.

As they talked their way through time, a different voice joined the conversation.

"Uwah, I didn't know that priests can be this bad. Seriously, the Church needs to upgrade its standards, though at least I got an idea of what you people are." A new voice called out in the night, startling the priests into action as they drew their respective blades and pistols from their sheaths and holsters.

Bladeless hilts of silver igniting swords of pure light and the barrels hammered, the priests outside shot all of their attention towards the direction of the source walking towards them down the cobbled road, seeing…

"What?" One of them uttered.

It was a kid. The intruder was nothing more than a kid in casual wear, hands in his pockets, and amber eyes wandering around the setting. His brown hair swayed with each turn of his head, his motion filled with curiosity until his gaze returned to the corrupted priests as they surrounded him from all sides.

"Hey, think he's a Devil?" One of them asked.

"No, I don't feel anything from him. None of the disgusting Devil-vibe, know what I'm saying?"

"What should we do with him?"

"We can't kill him carelessly. We don't even know his name yet. How are we going to erase the memories of his family if we don't have anything to work with?"

They muttered in confusion one by one as the kid scoffed.

"And to think I wasted my time considering any of you. How castigating." The kid shook his head, and his disappointment was palpable.

"How'd you break through the barrier, kid? If you tell us, we'll make sure it'll be fast."

The teenager raised a brow at his statement.

"Oh, that? It's quite easy. But what makes you think I'm gonna tell you?"

Their answer as them aiming their guns at the kid, pistols primed and ready to fire on the pull of their triggers.

"Because there's many of us and one of you, and we have you at gunpoint." The no-longer-bored man pointed out the obvious.

The boy did not seem scared by their weapons. The way he looked at them without batting an eyelid unnerved some of them. He was at gunpoint by many priests, each trained to kill Devils and armed to the teeth, yet he was unfazed. One of the priests saw the boy's eyes flickered up, looking at something above their heads for a while.

"And I was hoping to find someone worth my efforts. No matter, I believe this is the point where I say, '_I beg to differ.'_" The boy snapped his fingers, cracking the air with the sharp sound.

The fallen priests quirked a brow at this for a moment, confusion filling them, until the space behind the teenager yawned open, revealing a cavernous mouth, a sight that bled their confusions and leaving them empty with bafflement tinged with fear worming. There was an inexplicable air of dread infecting the atmosphere as if a dark presence was trying to claw its way here from the abyss.

Then it came, the first one emerged. A towering hulk in blackened steel, ruined by corrupting decay with crimson bloodlines engraved, holding a towering pavisse in one hand and a wicked flamberge in the other. Furthermore, sharp thorns protruded everywhere, painting the figure as an incarnation of violence. Its helmet aimed forth two demonic horns with the face being visible underneath. The face had no skin, rotting flesh over the empty eye sockets in which hate and killing intent emanated like a furnace, glowing with a flashing red light.

Worse, it came with a steed, a skeletal horse that which its chest was shining in a radiant aura, beasts of bones with tendrils of sparkling fog, pus yellow and emerald green, replacing blood and flesh.

Then came five more… no, nine more, ten skeletal riders in total joining the first. Moreover, more unliving horrors emerged from the dark yawning maw behind the teenager, formless horrors of multiple variants mixing into a collage of abominations, a horde of Undead staring at the outcasts of the church.

Baffled silence choked the priests, confusion, and fear swelled in a chaotic swirl, until one of the priests slowly spoke out, calling out to the others to break the silent hold.

"O-Oi…" One of the priests spoke up, "What the hell am I seeing?"

The situation was surreal. A teenage boy that appeared out of nowhere was somehow leading a small horde of undead. The kid looked civilian for Chris' sake, no robes, or any presence of magic power within him, but there was an unnatural air around him.

"Am I dreaming this?" Another one asked, the now scared man feeling his fingers tremble around the trigger.

"Believe whatever you wish, it won't matter." The boy answered, his voice dropped in temperature, down to a callous cold.

"What the fuck are you?" The eldest of the bunch cursed, staring at the horde with a mix of bewilderment.

How could a teenager dabble in the Dark Arts? Where did he get the power to raise and control the dead? Necromancy was an unpopular art since it dabbled in forbidden practices involving life and death. Any information on the Dark Arts was much rarer than encountering a Sacred Gear user as the art fell out of practice during the years. The Church did perform exorcisms against Evil Spirits and the like, but the priests have never encountered such numbers of Undead.

Each of the priests took a step back. What was worse, they could tell by the ominous aura of the Undead that the unholy beings were dangerous. Their very souls quivered when they gazed into the eyes of the undead riders, but that paled in comparison to the few fleshless hidden amongst the horde.

"But now that I've confirmed your stance against even civilians, I'm afraid you've forfeited your last lifeline." The brown-haired teenager raised a hand, palm facing the priests, and flicked it in their direction. "Take them. Make sure none escape this night."

The armored riders screamed a monstrous roar in the night, followed by the ghastly groans and wails of the roused corpses. Screeches joined in the chorus as well as the sounds of clacking bones and meaty thuds of wet flesh from the horde as they march towards them.

The rising moon watched, watching the sinful cry out in misery as the darkness swallowed them. Flashes of Holy Light flickered from the barrels of their guns, gunshots cracking the silent night followed by the wet sound of blades cutting through them.

* * *

The priests proved just as lacking as their HP suggested.

He watched the Skeleton Warriors and Archers drag the bodies into the **[Gate]** one by one, transporting them to the dungeons where the rest of the Undead would keep them secure. Momonga shook his head still. To think that they couldn't fare against even the Skeleton Warriors. The priests were all low levels as he had expected, but still, a great disappointment.

One of the skeletons walked up to Momonga, handing him one of their silver laser swords and a pistol. Taking them, Momonga appraised them with **[All Appraisal Magic Item]**, scanning their history as the information flowed into his mind.

"Weapons of the Church? Anti-Devil Weapons with the Holy Element?" Momonga was amazed.

He had seen similar items back in YGGDRASIL, but these were new. They were involved in construction as Momonga pressed the button on the hilt, igniting the shining blade under his eyes.

Out of curiosity, Momonga held the blade in a reverse grip and tried to cut himself. Once the tip of the sword reached his skin, he felt nary a burn, even when he pressed the blade into him with enough strength to puncture his skin. The levels of the Items were weak, but he would keep them as souvenirs, for further study at least.

"At least I now know that the Church has a bigger role in this than I thought." Momonga should've expected it, but considering religion as a whole, and he was still surprised by their involvement.

How big was the Church, and how much influence do they even hold? He at least had some prisoners to question once he finished his task here.

Speaking of his task, Momonga turned off the sword, storing the hilt and gun into his inventory, before directing his eyes to the Chapel. He had a score to settle with the exiled angels. His undead cleaned the bodies, dragging them back to his underground base, while his Death Knight Riders and Overlords stood guard outside the chapel.

He casually walked forth as all compassion bled from his heart, leaving only cold spite and hardened apathy towards the lives of others as he turned on his **[Emotion Suppression]**. He had his **[Wand of Resurrection] **ready to revive them should they dare resort to suicide. Or he could threaten them with a Soul Eater or Death Knight should he manage to injure them enough.

Under the caressing moonlight, Momonga walked towards the door of the abandoned Church as a small retinue of skeletons accompanied him into the building. Five Skeleton Warriors went ahead, entering the building first to lure the three women into false ease. After they entered the ruined church, bones and a pair of shoes clattering and pressing the aged stone, Momonga sent them forth towards the room where Issei's murderer resided.

Using one of them as his eyes via **[Undead Slave Sight]**, Momonga halted his tracks once they entered the room. Standing on the dais was an altar where three females bearing wings of black convened. One of them was Momonga's target, the woman known as Raynare.

He paused, waiting behind the door as he sent his skeletons into the fray. Momonga hummed in thought, wondering how he should test their levels. They seem adept at hiding from human society, so they might have anti-information defenses like his, but considering the incident with the male Fallen Angel, it might not be the case. Still, he had more than one way to test their Levels, with contingency plans even for a level 100 foe.

Opening the door, Momonga used one of his remaining charges to summon another Death Knight into the material world, behind the door and into the building, as black mist wisped from his human form. From the smog, black tar spewed forth, trickling into a tangible form that resulted in a monstrous hulk wrought from the essence of violence.

He sent them forth into the room, slowly following behind them hereafter, ready to retrieve a debt long overdue.

* * *

**We pretty much preplanned some stuff, and I decided to delve into new territory, using elements that border on the Power Creep, since Highschool DxD pretty much runs on bullshit logic. Wish me luck on making the best out of this.**


	4. Chapter 4: Revelation and Despair

**Behold, the first every writing of Zaralann. Some of the contents are from his side and his ideas, especially the monologues, so let us know what you guys think.**

* * *

Raynare's attire was the usual. Her clothes were black, strap-like objects (resembling leather) around and under her breasts, a thong-like piece held around her hips by three thin straps, gloves that ran right up her arms with small lengths of chains hanging from them, shoulder guard-like objects on her shoulders with three large spikes sprouting from her right shoulder, and black thigh-high heel boots wearing her legs.

Worry plastered her face. One of their own disappeared due to unknown causes, vanishing without a trace. Did the Devils take him down? No, Raynare dismissed that thought.

Raynare was still under the effects of the treaty between the Three Biblical Factions, so they could not attack Dohnaseek without sufficient justification, which Dohnaseek would never provide. Raynare sent Miltelt to search for him, but she returned with no results. Should they consider moving their base?

"How could you still not find him, you dumb midget?" Kalawarner glared with stoic criticism at the gothic lolita.

"Hey, don't look at me that way! How the heck can I find him? Dohnaseek just disappeared, and I don't have anything to work with!"

Miltelt pouted at her cohort, ticked by Kalawarner's piercing words.

"Enough." Raynare, with a wave of her hand, silenced the two below her as she reminisced.

"If we've lost contact this long, then he is dead. We might need to move our location before Lord Azazel took notice of our-"

She halted her speech as all three Fallen Angels sensed the presence of tainted unlife trespassing their sanctuary. They stopped as screams erupted around the chapel, church guns banging their barrels, and unholy roars chorusing until a dreadful silence consumed them all. The dissonant quiet brought unease in the Fallen Angels as they readied themselves for the intruders to breach their chapel.

Entering the chapel was a group of… skeletons armed with swords and adorned with scraps of leather around their bones.

However, one undead stood out from the rest, one they have never encountered before and, unlike the rest, inspired fear and caution. It was a hulking mass torn from the essence of violence and hunger for the death of all life. They instinctively shivered upon feeling its baleful gaze. An unexpected face calmly introduced itself, walking up from the knight of Death, at the most unexpected of times. Raynare looked at him as memories rewound to their false date in remembrance, her jaw slack upon seeing a ghost long thought dead.

"Hyōdō?" Raynare uttered.

Why was he still alive? He should be rotting beneath the soil by now. How did he survive his wounds?

Hyōdō Issei had his hands in his pockets; his gaze being empty with apathy as the moonlight reflected dull brown off his hair.

"I'm afraid that this is our first meeting, as while I do know your name, your history is another story. The same does not go for those companions of yours. They're new to me entirely." Hyōdō spoke, his voice resounding an unexpected tone of… regality?

His words carried a certain charisma Raynare could not describe. No, the way he spoke wrung many questions. There wasn't a trace of the perverted idiocy in his throat.

"Who…" For a moment there, Raynare did not recognize the young man before them.

"Y-You… How'd you find us?!" Mittelt demanded as she took to the air and conjured her pink spear, pointing it at Hyōdō.

"I always knew." There was something in his voice, something that compelled her snarl and almost flinched at his remark.

His voice was unnaturally calm and nonchalant, the palpable dismissal that could only be visible from those looking down on others like ants. Something was wrong, a missing puzzle of the enigma that Raynare could not put her finger upon - something that made this whole picture seem almost surreal.

She didn't like it…

A Light Spear manifested in her right hand, formed out of a bizarre sense of anger at the confusion that the pest was causing Raynare with his echoing detachment. Raynare couldn't sense a speck of power from him, so he was mostly an aforethought memory compared to the much more threatening visage of the monstrous figure of the shambling Undead giant. Which begged the question, how did he control the Undead around him?

"Where did you find a Necromancer?" Kalawarner demanded as she conjured her double-bladed spear as well.

"Find?" Issei tilted his head. His eyes did not trail to any of their prominent features, be it their breasts or buxom thighs. Raynare now understood why she found him unsettling. He was like a different person, a complete contrast to the person she killed. "Oh, you mean them? You are sorely mistaken, madam. I didn't _purchase_ them, I _created_ them."

Raynare and the other three angels looked at Issei in shock. The wielder of the unknown Sacred Gear coupled with the power of a filthy Necromancer, defied all their expectations. The boy had no history with Black Magic; they were sure of it. However, before any could utter a word, the light of the world died at that moment, all of which the man consumed like a black hole in human form.

"I believe you owe me a little chat…" Issei gave his ultimatum, but before he could finish…

Each of the girls dropped down onto their knees, Mittelt falling from the sky as tears already trickled down their own fear-stricken eyes.

* * *

"Eh?" Momonga blinked upon seeing them crying now like actual girls.

The little blonde in gothic Lolita started bawling first while her hands rubbed her eyes. The mature one with blue hair started sniffling and… did she urinate? Momonga could smell the bitter stench of urine and, squinting hard enough, see liquid dribbling down her skirt. He didn't think he would see a mature beauty with an attractive, buxom figure leak herself from excess fear.

As for the scantily clad brunette in BSDM-like attire…

If Momonga didn't suppress his emotions, he would've felt the temptation. That girl was pretty on which her attire highly complimented her bodily assets, the contrast that it had with the terror her face displayed made it hard not to flinch.

His mental portrayal of them cracked like a bullet through the glass. After the fedora man in the trench-coat outright declared his intent on killing him died… Well, Momonga honestly expected more. He thought the women were his bosses or something. He thought they were of higher level, but again, his expectations fell short.

'_... Are they so affected by it?'_ He deployed his **[Despair Aura I]** in anticipation of facing potential opposition, ensured that it had a rather good chance of inflicting **[Fear]** and lowering their Stats from the Level disparity alone… but, it turned out, they were as weak as that fedora guy.

Momonga knew that he was stronger than before, with the new chain of Dragon Racial Levels coupled with his already impressive one hundred. The Skills that came with it were a bizarre bonus, but he still wasn't sure where any of this came from, especially the World Saviour gauntlet hidden in his left arm.

Now that he recalled, there was that one Passive Skill in his Menu that buffed all Aura-Type Skills. Was it because of this? No, each of their HP bars ranged from levels 11 to 13, so their powers shouldn't surpass the implications of their fragility unless they all had super-fragile glass cannon builds.

He took a step forth.

"_Wah!_" All three of the girls scuttled back until their backs hit the stone wall. Momonga felt as if his expectations were wasted, all in vain.

He wondered if he could demand a refund from God if given a chance.

"... Do you surrender?" Momonga asked as they stared at him in fear.

A moment of silence followed after the three flinched at his words. They looked as if the sole sound of his voice drove them deeper and deeper into terror. That would not do; he needed to converse with them, not speak one-sidedly _to_ them.

Momonga wasn't sure if they were faking their reactions, but even then, he could not imagine someone… losing control of their bladder to uphold such realism. That and the odds of someone knowing his **[Despair Aura I]** was practically nonexistent. With a rather cold-pitted reluctance, he deactivated it and allowed the three to breathe, their bodies visibly sagging down from the lack of oppressing air that formerly choked the life out of them.

"... What…" The one he suspected was Raynare rasped out with a tearful sob. "... What _are_ you?!"

A good question, he wasn't sure himself. Momonga wouldn't mind others calling him a freak or abomination at this point.

"I am Hyōdō Issei, the boy that you left to die in that park with a hole in his stomach." A straightforward white lie, but it was four-fifths the truth, technically. "The first thing I saw upon awakening was you flapping your wings away into the sunset. Logic is an interesting mistress - it did provide me with the proverbial breadcrumbs to follow…"

If he didn't know better than that, he would've thought that Death Knight somehow acquired a sense of dramatic timing as it released a low guttural groan.

"_Yip_!" The small blonde… _something_ pushed herself into the tallest one's side with wide eyes as she stared at the Undead with her body still trembling.

"... and after collecting them, I can safely conclude that the one responsible for my hideous debacle was you." Momonga finished with the same tone, seemingly ignoring the act of his creation. "Your compatriot, on the other hand, was a curious case. I'm sure he had an important role in your plans when he confronted me, but his capacity for speech was too… excessive for my taste. So I decided to _cut down_ his boasts in half right before he perished - like putting down a barking dog with a sword."

"Dohnaseek…" The blue-haired one muttered.

'_Dohna… that's his name?'_ Momonga wasn't one for being judgemental, but no matter how he looked at it, that name was weird, straightforward to forget. He couldn't even pronounce it right the first time without twisting his tongue. He had already forgotten his name the next second.

Moving on.

"So, that was his name?" Momonga put on musing expression, trying to look like he didn't forget the man's name.

"I believe you're all aware at this point that, while I seem to gain much, I lost so much more in exchange, things that cannot be replaced, but recovered. As you're all aware, memories are what constitute us, what _defines_ us, and therefore shape us into who were are at any moment of our lives hitherto. Happy or sad, good or bad, the ones that you cherish or the ones that you would want to bury deep and forget but will never manage to… It's a very curious condition when you have nothing, a tapestry washed into blank white, but you cannot help but feel that there was something on it, something _very crucial_." Momonga gave a hollow smile to the trio, his words building up the tension in the basement like a pot that was about to reach its boiling point. He wasn't one for monologue, but this wasn't a negotiation - it was a show of force, verbal and tangible.

"You have something that is long overdue. You took away the identity of the man I was after that little prank in the park. So, I would like to know if you would be so kind as to share, just _who_ or _what_ was Hyōdō Issei? I don't know myself, isn't it interesting? What would he do in a situation like this? Would he kill all three of you to make himself feel better? Would he let you live? Would he forgive you or damn you? We will never know as _I am_ Hyōdō Issei and I don't know… it's rather _paradoxical_, isn't it?" This was Momonga's card he was planning to use on Issei's parents on the first day, but he couldn't bring himself to do it, the amnesia card. Momonga wanted to use this card against his classmates as well, but it seemed that his hesitation cost him a critical opportunity. Momonga wasn't sure if he could convince the others that he had amnesia in the first place. Momonga scanned the girls for any reaction. The blue one stole swift glances at the brunette from time to time while the lolita stared at her openly. The brunette in question was kicking herself back while still trapped on her bottom rear.

"Well? Would you care to relieve me of my questions? Or…" Momonga slowly raised his hand with a dramatic effect, posing as if he can reach out and pluck their souls out. Well, their hearts out, Momonga couldn't pluck souls. "I can start asking myself one of those questions, and it will be _interesting_ to find the answer for myself. The source may be a bit crude, but, as you can see, I have _three tries_ to get it right."

He raised his hand, reaching out for them threateningly as if he could pluck out their lives one by one. Momonga could kill one of them with **[Death]** and see their reactions, but he did not want to waste potential specimens. He was curious about how his spells could affect a native heteromorph in detail.

'_... Maybe I'm laying it a bit thick.'_ He could almost hear their hearts stopping as the tension in their bodies seem to reach the level of granite statues. Sure, he wanted to make them talk, under the impression that he was facing remorseless killers. Was he wrong? He expected them to be firm, to resist his efforts to the point at which he would resort more substantial methods like **[Despair Aura II]** and above, combined with his other Skills if he must.

During his silent musing, Momonga felt one of his skeletons being attacked. A familiar blade of Light seemingly cutting down one of the Skeletons at the back, knocking it down with a large chunk of its HP missing.

"_Yeeeeehaaa_!" Came a… battle cry.

Turning around to face the entrance, Momonga raised his arm to stop his undead retinue from attacking the newcomer and commanded them to step aside. They revealed a man with silver hair in the opening, strange eyes that seem to shift between several shades of red and a white suit under his bluish trench coat. He was moving with speed far above those of the priests his undead defeated in this broken world; his moves were almost erratic, but the demented smile and wide-eyed gaze kind of made it hard to tell if he was even trying or just waving that thing around.

'_Where the hell did he come from?'_ Momonga's Undead, especially his Eyeball Corpses, didn't pick this guy up. Was he hiding somewhere in this chapel under his undead's nose?

"And who might you be?" Momonga decided to try and once more use **[Despair Aura I]** but was interrupted.

"Ha!" Suddenly the man poised the silver, church-themed gun in his hand at Momonga and shot a round of light. "The name is Freed Sellzen, you little Necro-bitch, but thanks for all these toys! Here, I've got a present for ya!"

Momonga felt a tap on his forehead as a _literal_ _bullet made out of Light_ hit him square on the line between his eyes slightly above his brows. The man's move was decent, aiming for the summoner first instead of the constructs. Knowing the level of the pistol, Momonga allowed the bullet to hit him, feeling a tap on his forehead squarely. The impact barely tickled his skin as it vanished like a stray thought leaving his memory.

The priest that named himself Freed Selzen landed on the floor, looking at Momonga baffled.

"Huh?" The lunatic priest blinked, confused. So he expected the bullet to puncture another breathing hole in his head, understandable. "What? Why isn't your head drooling blood?"

He asked as he looked at the steaming hole of his gun for a moment. An air of awkwardness descended in the scene as Momonga extended his hand at Freed. Time to make an example.

**[Grasp Heart]**

Momonga clenched his fist with Issei's hand. The man who named himself Freed Sellzen froze.

Momonga felt something squelching in his palm, followed by the feeling of warm liquid spilling through his fingers as he un-clenched his hand. Afterward, Freed Sellzen dropped to the floor face-first, his eyes now hollow, empty of life.

'_Huh.'_ Momonga hoped that he would survive it a little to confirm the stupor after-effect of **[Grasp Heart]**. '_Shame.'_

Momonga could've used him for his experiments. Maybe he should try reviving this one and then kill him again after wringing all the information he could offer. Momonga should think of ways to dispose of the bodies afterward, maybe find a pit somewhere to dig them in or test which spells were optimal for body disposal.

"Now then… eh?" When Momonga turned to the girls, each one of them was looking at him with wide eyes, their faces ashen with more fear than under the effect of **[Despair Aura I]**. "Well, I see that the brief intermission was very educational to you. Now that I confirmed my capacity to end your lives with a single gesture, such as with the pitiful corpse over there, let us return to our discussion. Ah, yes, the one question that remains… Would I _need_ to do the same two more times?"

By the looks on their faces, he wouldn't. Hopefully, he could obtain quite a bit of information from the three angels. Momonga somewhat regretted that he didn't get to play his Amnesia Card, but maybe another chance could arise.

* * *

A black void zipped open like a cavernous maw yawning into the world before four figures emerged - three women of various builds and sizes followed by one boy with brown hair and attractive features.

'_So that's how Hyōdō Issei died…'_ Momonga found his venture very lucrative as he sat down on the edge of his white sheet-covered bed and digested what he learned. The teen before was an unawakened wielder of a Sacred Gear, albeit her superior failed to inform her of its name and background. The boy was human, and his background was average, barring his perverted nature. His death was callous, though, murdered by a Fallen Angel posing as his girlfriend. It was almost as bad as watching his mother die in front of him.

Momonga acquired the verbal description of his '_Sacred Gear,'_ a gauntlet that could double his power, a vague definition as Momonga wasn't sure if it meant Skills, Spells, or Stats. He asked about its drawbacks, but they could not name any no matter the number of questions he asked. Theoretically, he could use it as much as he wanted without consequence, but he wouldn't test his luck given his experience with the balancing of YGGDRASIL.

'_But that did not explain why I am now a Dragon… well, part dragon,'_ Momonga tapped his chin. He already asked about the possibility of a race-change, but they said it was impossible. They had never heard of a Sacred Gear that demonstrated the ability to become part of the Dragon Race naturally. The Sacred Gear didn't have the power to initiate Race-Change as well, no matter the number of scanning attempts to perceive otherwise.

However, Momonga took the word, _naturally_, into account. There was the possibility of a Polymorph, but he doubted there was a Spell that could allow such a thing, minus using **[Wish Upon a Star]** or **[Shooting Star]**.

He envied the one known as Hyōdō Issei much for possessing abilities that rivaled those of World Class Items. Not only that, his inventory space had expanded to a ridiculous degree. What the hell? That shouldn't be possible or even allowed. His PvP'er Soul was crying in agony.

Anyways, Momonga at least confirmed the major Factions that claimed land in this town, Angels, Devils, and Fallen Angels. When he asked about Nephilims, the women claimed that they were sporadic, humans who held the power of the Heavens in their hands. Angels that could intermingle with humans were usually Fallen Angels as Pure Angels could not rely on their base desires to reproduce with the humans without falling.

The concept of Angels being unable to love or have sex was ridiculous, one small drop, and then instant banishment. Whoever their god was, he was just as corrupt as the corporate bosses he worked under before. Just in case, Momonga asked if they were Giants… they looked at him confused.

In order words, the Nephilims here were nothing like Warrior Takemikazuchi or Yamaiko. He asked about their abilities and the races of Devils, only to receive further eyes of confusion before asking if he was referring to Chimeras or Stray Devils.

He asked about what they meant by Chimeras. They responded by saying that they are artificial life-forms, usually abominations, created by Alchemists and Heretical Mages. Stray Devils, on the other hand, are those that turned into Devils but weren't strong enough to withstand the Power before they twisted into abominations.

Momonga would love to see one for comparison… maybe he should hunt one or two for dissection. He would need to go hunting for some. He was even more surprised when he heard that some of the students at Kuoh Academy were Devils. He wondered…

'_Should I hunt for one?'_ Momonga's collector spirit was rising. He wasn't sure whether to consider them as people or not, so he would refrain from treating them like mobs for now.

As he sat there, the three Fallen Angels fidgeted, unsure of what will happen to them.

"You mentioned that you were subordinated to a higher Fallen Angel?" Momonga asked, there was an excellent point as he wasn't in any position to oppose someone who was even relatively high on any pecking order. If '_Factions_' overlap with the YGGDRASIL variant, '_Guilds,_' than these three '_Noobs_' could bring out a far more mature member out to put down his much more massive boot. Momonga wasn't really in any hurry to be the '_Ant_' in this metaphor, nor any time at all if he could help it. "Someone interested in my '_Sacred Gear_'?"

The name still felt strange, the way he worded it even stranger. After his position in the Hyōdō household was established, the first thing he tested was to look into what became of his gear, and other things that he supposed came with him. What he found was… _strange_.

Bar the borderline impossible extra Levels that flew out of nowhere, and he also gained a freaking World Item Gauntlet that he had no clue what to do with. **[Boosted Gear]** wasn't exactly weak, even if it were more suited for someone who was of a Warrior-Class, he still wouldn't oppose his possessing such a boon, although his concern for losing the chance of obtaining an optimized build still burned.

In a dormant state, it didn't do much other than being a separate storage space that he could use to store weapons and then instantly swap them from within in combat at command, or equip an Item to the gauntlet which Momonga could use through his Sacred Gear.

Not very shabby, a bit like those Cash Items he was accustomed to, albeit limited. Still, he could now at least cut some of the lag if he ever wanted to fight in Close-Quarter-Combat. A small secondary part was that it had sort of a '_hold-on-use_' effect that allowed him to store Items that he could use without having to wear them, but it also held limits.

Its second Form was what was aptly named **[Scale Mail], **and it was ridiculous. Upon donning the full set of _self-repairing_ gear that covered his whole body from head to toe, he gained a _tremendous_ increase in all of his Parameters, Defences, Resistances, and pretty much everything that he could think of.

The description of the appraisal was strange, and if he understood it correctly, then the whole thing was comprised of an entire Dragon, from its flesh to its bones. Momonga had no clue how to accurately interpret it, the fact that it wasn't comprised from _parts_ of a Dragon, but the Dragon _itself_ was forcefully forged into the gauntlet stuck on his arm.

The Skills that he gained from all of his Dragon Levels were working with it and boosted it even further, making him feel a bit cheated. It was in perfect synergy with them, as if the gauntlet in question was specifically _made_ for someone with these specific Races and Skills. He would need to subtly inquire if the three prisoners that were kneeling on the floor before him knew of any Sacred Gear like that.

Seeing them nod in nervous confirmation, Momonga continued with his questions.

"Is there any case of a Sacred Gear capable of transforming the Race of the Wearer? Or others, in general?" His tone was more of curiosity than anything else, covering up the honestly unsettling amount of unknowns that made his mind run a mile a minute. "Anything akin to something like the Devils' items? If I remember right, you called those things '_Evil Pieces_,' a Reincarnation in a tiny chess piece."

This time, the one he learned as Mittelt spoke.

"Y-Yes, o' Great One."

'_So she's already resorting to bootlicking?'_ Momonga didn't stop her, though, anything to get them to talk, but he needed to tell them to stop it later on.

"T-They only pick the o-ones that catch their interests, though." The blonde lolita's voice was both fearful and respectful. "They include them into their Peerages and make them their servants… Not much is known how it is done…"

'_Hm?' _Now she had caught his interests as he leaned forward.

"How do they pick their candidates? For example, would anyone with a great physical build or with flawless academic prowess draw their eyes?" Momonga inquired about their selection process. "Or do they have the Skill to peer in the potential of those around them?"

"It's..." This time, it was Raynare who answered. "It's not that simple; they can use their Magic to detect Sacred Gears… Good lineage, bloodline, capabilities… I cannot say for certain as we never were told specifics, only that they seek out someone strong to repopulate their Faction."

'_... They initiate Race-Change to boink them?'_ Momonga would've sweatdropped if not for his **[Emotion Suppression]**. From a purely logical and extremely cynical standpoint, that solution was a very viable option for any Race of low-rate reproduction with high stakes on the table. However, the contract that came with the Race-Change concerned the salaryman inside. He _really_ didn't want to know what precisely the '_servitude_' in a Peerage meant as he imagined his previous workplace working him to the bone.

"So it's like farming for rare specimens amongst sheep. Amusing, but that only arouses another question. How does a Sacred Gear function? Why did it reside in those like I? I do not recall myself being part of a lineage of Dragon Knights." That was the other question, why Issei had that dragon gauntlet on his arm. "I'm not sure if there is any actual pedigree to my bloodline or if there is one in the first place."

How Sacred Gears choose their wielders were Momonga's most significant concerns. Any information on this would give him the right tools to spot one at first sight. That did not count the reason why the Spell registered his gauntlet as a World Item and not a Sacred Gear.

"Lord Azazel said that yours gave out an output of a Dragon…" Raynare continued, but almost instantly shrunk upon herself as Momonga's eyes narrowed at the name dropped into the bag. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to show any disrespect! We are not sure how that works; we only know that they randomly appear in people and that there is seemingly no rhyme reason to who they choose! _Please don't kill me_!"

'_I think I made a bit too much of an impression on her.'_ Momonga really wanted to facepalm right now at his eagerness to reap his rewards. Assuming that he could, Momonga noted to find a way to gauge the levels of others other than their HP and MP, along with countermeasures against anything like **[False Data: Life]** and **[False Data: Mana]**. He preferred to not waste his energy barking at shadows in his every step.

Not only that, her new mindset both surprised and worried Momonga. He might have to **[Charm]** them to ensure they sneaked no falsehoods inside the flow of information. Well, at least he gained much from this venture, tools he had never encountered, and specimens for experimentation. He was sure they could not escape the area as his Undead would beat them into submission before they take another step.

He could use the angels to aid him against the Devils should he encounter hostilities from their side. The girls' description of Devils did not leave much room for any positive image, especially regarding their rulers… well, assuming that the current Four Great Satans held some modicum of decency, although he would instead withhold any encounter with them until he was sure that he could face at least one of them in combat and emerge as the victor.

"Your answer is acceptable, as I did not find anything noteworthy about my ancestors after my reawakening." Trying to recall what else to scry from them.

Momonga recalled learning about their Race's Abilities, the powers of the Angels that didn't fall from grace alongside the surface capabilities of their human followers, and a summary of the Devils' strengths and weaknesses, only to recall that he was still hosting prisoners under his belt.

"Now, onto the most important topic of all…" Momonga shifted in his seat, placing one leg over the other and looking down at the quivering brunette. "Why did you kill me? What do you have to gain from my death?"

* * *

Rayner, Kawalmer, and Mittelt could not recognize the current Issei.

This one did not hold the same amount of perversion as the previous Issei. Even during their long lives ever since God birthed them millennia ago, they have not witnessed such a drastic change of character after an illogical revival from any human in their recorded history - or any species at all. This Issei held the air of an avid learner combined with a majestic charisma that could only emanate from Kings, True Rulers of their kind.

A face painted under a different light did bring a new perspective as Raynare could not find any surviving traits from the previous Issei at all.

"Is there something wrong?" Issei asked, his tone calm and collected, stirring them from their thoughts.

"A-Ah, um…" Raynare fidgeted. She did not know what to say.

Her real reason for killing him off was because… because… actually, why did she kill him? Now that she thought about it, she did not care for humans at all, so… then she paled upon realizing that she did it because she thought it would win Lord Azazel's favor. She did it for power and prestige, and karma was rearing its ugly head at her.

"Your complexion is paling. Did you recall a trauma from a distant past? Or a sin that you now regret?" Issei spoke as if he could read her like a book.

Raynare furtively glanced at Issei. She swore she saw blood-red lights gleaming behind his pupils.

"I… I…" Raynare bit her lower lip.

She could not do it. She could not speak the truth and risk her and her companions' demise. Kawalmer and Mittelt's pain-filled stares were already enough to break her confidence as they were.

"Hmmm, very well. How about this? Should you speak the truth, I promise not to bring you any form of harm in retaliation. Would that be enough?" Issei proposed.

They threw their heads up at their warden, confused.

"Eh?" Raynare could only utter that response. She looked at her partners as they shared the same confusion. "R… really?"

Raynare asked, unsure whether he would keep his word or not. She raised her caution, expecting the human to betray them.

"Indeed. If it assuages your fears, then I will swear it on my name as Hyōdō Issei. I am a man that holds my bargains, for a man that betrays himself can never truly live."

'_Who am I speaking to?!'_ Raynare shouted in her head. The Issei she knew would never hold promises with a tone of authority like this! It didn't make sense! It was like she didn't know him anymore!

His cool voice just exuberate a dignified grace that she could not resist.

"...I… I did it…" Raynare bit her lip. Even if she remained silent, she would die anyway now that she reviewed her situation. There was no escape in the end. "...I killed you because… I thought… Lord Azazel would promote me if I did…"

The three closed her eyes, waiting for the explosion of ire and any form of pain that would follow. However, as they waited, they felt no pain. They could only feel their hearts pounding their chests, drummed by fear and adrenaline. One second passed, then a minute followed. Counting the seconds in their heads, they opened their eyes after a few minutes bypassed them.

When they looked up at Issei, they did not see anger warping his features or hatred.

They only saw confoundment.

"... Excuse me?"

* * *

"... Allow me to repeat what I heard." Momonga pressed his temple with his finger, gently rubbing his head. "You thought that murdering a wielder of a powerful Sacred Gear would earn you prestige and power? Didn't you consider that you could've recruited me the first time instead? No, wait… did you kill me because you're racist?"

Momonga uttered the last question because, as ludicrous as it was to the ears, he could not, no matter what, follow her train of logic. Why kill someone that she could easily seduce with barely any effort instead of luring that person into joining her '_Guild_'? That only made sense if she was racist like the human Players of YGGDRASIL, to cut the bud before it bloomed.

'_Wait, this makes too much sense...'_ He felt a bizarre sense of irritation mixed with an almost familiar apathy, the same one he felt towards idiots that were giving '_Noobs_' a bad name. While he was self-aware enough not to call himself a prodigy or anything remotely close, he could see an opening and an opportunity - it was kind of in his job description as a Guild Leader.

Raynare's mouth opened and then closed; there was a moment of silence when her eyes seem to develop an eerie shadow of despair slowly. Momonga knew she couldn't lie to him, but she couldn't exactly tell the truth out of fear of being smitten on the spot for her idiotic stunt and being a '_racist.'_

"Don't tell me… you actually killed me because you're racist?" Momonga asked once more, unsure whether to pity her or… he couldn't find the word for anything more degrading than pity. "That's… _incredibly_ stupid. And very offensive. You were already aware that the Devils, _which were nesting nearby for a long time_, were fully capable of raising the dead as their servants, but you still decided that killing me was the best option. What if the Devils found me after your little stunt? They would've held me in their debt as I look to them as saviors, a willing slave fueled by sheer gratitude for my second chance at life. And that's not including the borderline, retarded concept of earning promotions for _murdering potential recruits_. I don't know how much wealth your superior holds, but I assume, with utmost confidence, that this Azazel fellow would've given you his Blessing and Half-a-Kingdom if you _recruited_ me instead. Furthermore, if he found that my Sacred Gear is of any value, consider your promotion set in stone as he would probably shower you with more rewards than you can dream of, assuming he can grant literal wishes. Please tell me you considered this before throwing the first proverbial, and literal, spear through my heart and stomach?"

Actually, that would probably be Issei's fate now that he thought about it.

'_Wait, if they could detect Sacred Gears, then do they know about Issei's?'_ A good question crossed his mind. He recalled the black flier that was in his pocket before… he threw it away because he thought it was one of the many useless ads.

He didn't scan that one, but he was sure that it was the same paper that the cosplay lady handed to him, the devil-summoning flier. Yeah, they definitely knew that Issei had a Sacred Gear.

Back to the subject.

"I will take your silence as confirmation." Momonga shook his head with great disappointment.

"No! Wait! I'm not racist!" Raynare shook her head, trying to change his mind that she was not racist desperately.

Momonga shifted his gaze to the others as they stuttered, before joining Raynare in shouting denial.

"Please! W-We're not with her!"

"I'm not racist! I love humans, I promise!"

The buxom secretary and blonde lolitas were spouting absurdities at this point.

"I suspect that you're now taking advantage of my amnesia…" Momonga now considered his options of punishment. While he held some guilt over taking Issei's body as his own, albeit not out of choice, Momonga would not let this offensive stunt slide. Not even he would kill someone in cold blood for such a superficial reason. They must learn from their mistakes, or else they would repeat their blunders. "It's pointless to list your crimes as you were the instigator, with the other two following you as accomplices out of their volition so that I will split your punishments evenly. It is fair to place the Leader on the same line as her followers. I'm not exactly as educated on the Supernatural side of the World as I want to be, so that I will require your services from now on. Consider it as repaying every bit of what your stunt cost me day by day, _moment by moment_."

Momonga narrowed his eyes into a glare, unaware that a malevolent emerald halo of corona surrounding a crimson gleam in his pupil dominating the amber irises and black pupil.

"_We agree_!" Raynare's voice came out more like a squeak than anything else.

Her form of response made Momonga pause. He honestly expected them to refuse or to try and bargain for something else. Thinking about them, what other uses they have other than basically being a trio of walking and talking '_Introduction Guide Into Supernatural for Dummies_' pamphlets… oh wait, they could mind-wipe witnesses. They also know their way around the basic Magicworld as well, erecting barriers to ward off eyewitnesses and the like, but it wasn't powerful… Still, their abilities were cost-efficient compared to the amount of Mana needed to fuel his **[Control Amnesia]**.

They were still fragile, so Momonga could use them as scouts at the very least until he found a way to make better use of the idiot trio.

"Then I won't be convoluted with your duties, even from my minimal idea of how your respective prowess that which, if measured, I could tell you three weren't even close to being the cream of the crop." A bait and a shot in the dark, not too obvious, but it would work for him in the long run if he'll ever lose any need for them.

"We're going to reexamine any piece of information still at your disposal, and that includes any detail that your memories hold, be it relevant or not. I think of myself as an intelligent person, and waltzing into unknown territory only makes the whole venture less profitable, think of it as a daily quiz about your vision of the world around you." His casual tone then dropped, emotions bled, replaced by cold and an almost incomprehensible pressure.

"But if you disobey me, then please do not beg for mercy as I reserve none for those who betray my trust. What will happen should not come as a surprise to any of you; as I have shown before I have a very _particular set of Skills_ and I will look for you, I _will_ find you, and I _will __**kill you**_." A small flare of **[Despair Aura I]** to puncture the last two words was a nice touch to the speech Momonga just conjured on the spot, a hazy memory of an old movie helping somewhat. Momonga shifted his tone back to a casual one that held almost a nonchalant air to it and way too casual for the current topic. "Your contract with your previous employer is hereby terminated. You three are dead, and that will be what everyone should see for the duration until I state otherwise. You are not to be seen, not to be heard and not to be, in any way or form, to be made known to anyone other than myself or those I deem worthy." He gave them a small smile that allowed the three Fallen Angels to see his teeth. "After all, if the rumors of your death will start to crumble, I would be compelled to force it closer to reality with my own two hands, I hope that you can see how it can end badly for one of you, right?"

None of the three Fallen Angels moved. For a moment, he thought that they lost their ability to breathe, and he went a bit too far, but as he relaxed his posture, they collapsed onto the floor in a dead faint. Well, nobody ever said the first time would be the charm…

Should he be more forceful? He made sure to converse with them civilly using his salaryman side this time, although he allowed himself to be more casual in his wordings to maintain his teen facade.

"Issei! Dinner is ready!" His mother called from outside his room.

"Oh, shit." Issei looked at the three unconscious girls and the door of his bedroom. He must hide them before his end-game Boss, known as his mother, spotted them and construe a terrible misunderstanding. He did not want to use **[Control Amnesia]** on her.


	5. Chapter 5: Lich Meets Saint

**Ooga Booga. Yeah, here's a big one. More stuff from the infamous Zaralann included. **

* * *

Sparkling luster limned the metallic walls, floor, and ceiling of the room, magical lights illuminating the air of the reflecting surfaces while the undead surrounded the priests - their clothes stripped, their weapons robbed, entire attires shorn minus their underwear. Freedom laid so close near them, just behind the wall of unliving monsters that would slaughter them if they surrendered to the biting itch in the muscles of their legs.

Their stomachs growled, and throats parched in protest, no food or drink gracing their tongues and throats past their first day. Albeit, could they quench their needs in these squalid conditions? They were prisoners, and no one would come for them, be it the Church or the Grigori. The undead would respond to their complaints with their smacking them down.

Some of them were praying to the God they betrayed, clasping their hands together in prayer for their Lord in desperate hopes for salvation. Some lay on the floor supine, their eyes drained of life, stuck to the ceiling with shattered hopes. Others planned for their escape, furiously wracking every fiber of their twisted minds how to overcome the undead while holding onto the thin thread of hope for their freedom.

In their lamentation, they finally heard footsteps approaching them, the soft thud of feet resounding through the deafening silence. All of them perked their heads, tired and hungry, as the wall of undead step aside to make way for their teenage master.

"I greet you, gentlemen. I apologize for not taking care of you earlier. I was busy dealing with the misconduct of your former employers. My schedule is a bit occupied nowadays, but I finally made time to deal with you lot." The teenager informed as he stepped towards the defeated prisoners.

The group flinched, stunned into silence when he mentioned Raynare and the others. Their superiors had also fallen to the necromancer before them.

"Whether you're aware or not, you're my first prisoners here. Well, I don't know how to take care of captives, honestly, but why should I care about the rights of criminals in the first place?"

His voice was condescending, battering the remnants of their pride. Various colors of emotions clashed in their hearts, one failing to overcome the other and vice versa.

"W-What's gonna happen to us?" One of the priests, unable to withstand the gnawing anxiety, responded.

Their fates were inevitable. They knew they were going to die here, for they held no value. They were banished priests, discarded remnants of the Church. None of them were of any exceptional value, only to be used and discarded as one saw fit.

"To the point I see. If you are wondering why I left you alive, I want you to partake in an experiment of mine. Bluntly put, all of you are basically expendable guinea pigs for my liberal use. I take it you have questions as to what I am planning, but I don't give a damn about your lives, so why should I see the need to answer?"

No one answered the boy. The damned teenager didn't sugarcoat his intentions, directly stating that he was about to torment them in his sick, twisted test. They were at the end of their ropes with no silver lining in sight. However, not all could endure the despairing helplessness drowning them - one of them jumped to his feet and lunged at the necromancer, both hands outstretched with his throat in his sight.

"Dieeee!" The priest grabbed the teenager's throat, crushing his windpipe as hard as he could. "Die! Die die die _die die die __**die die die**_!"

Crazed at this point, the attacking priest shouted his desire to see the teenager die, sporting a maniacal grin as he poured every fiber of his arm strength into strangling him and, hopefully, snap his neck.

The rest of the priests were torn with mixed feelings. A spark of dark hope swelled within them, an impulse compelling them to join their comrade in killing their warden in hopes of reclaiming their freedom.

However, the boy did not care, paying no mind to his strangling situation. With one response, he doused the fires of their hope as he calmly laid his hand on the priest's temple, one covered in a red, scaled gauntlet with a green gem embedded in the forearm.

"Ah, so we have a volunteer?" The teenage necromancer calmly shrugged as if he was not being choked.

**[Control Amnesia]**

After the kid's evocation, his hand radiated with dark energy that was seeping into the priest's skull. The priest let go of the necromancer as he screamed, clutching his head in pain.

"Ahhhhhhhhhgggggggh?!" The Priest shouted as the necromancer did something to him.

"Let's see… what to replace… Ahhh, I've just the thing." The boy hummed, not paying attention to the screaming man in his hand. The man started to thrash in his grip, punching the necromancer with wild swinging, even resorting to biting his fingers off just to get him to let go.

However, no matter his attempt, the boy did not flinch to his efforts while holding the man like a vice as the rest watched with horror. After he was done, the necromancer released the priest, letting him drop to the floor and curl up as he held his head while his body convulsed.

"What year is it now?" The boy asked the man.

"W-W-What'd you… I…" The man blinked as he picked himself up, his face contorting with confusion for a moment. "Wait… 2138? I… what am… the sky is black. The rain is… clean? Why is it clean?! The animals… I… trees… what'd you do to me?!"

The priest shouted at Momonga, his eyes visibly trembling with growing mania.

"Hmmm, interesting. I wonder what happens if I replace this…" The boy knelt and reached out for the man.

"I, no! Please! Stop! AHHHHHHHHHHH!?"

* * *

Replace one memory, the rest of it conflicts with the new - knowledge pit against knowledge, natural against foreign.

It wasn't as Momonga imagined as he thought the process would involve less screaming and pleading. He wondered if he could erase his memory of how to scream his lungs out… oh, his guinea stopped screaming. It worked. The man was still trying to scream, judging by how his jaw stretched and the croaking rasp he kept yawning out, but he just couldn't. He at least confirmed that all changes from **[Control Amnesia]** are permanent for now.

Continuing.

Momonga could not make up a false memory on the spot, so he settled for replacing their general knowledge of the current world with his shitty world, the world of 2138. He tinkered with their broad knowledge first, changing the sky from blue to black, ashen snow falling in winter, acid rain, and everlasting toxic air while corpses of children littered the streets.

What he traded with the man was memories of his world in exchange for knowledge of this one. Even if someone got ahold of this pig's implanted memories, they would find no value or significance in them, in memories of a ruined world that lies beyond the stars unconfirmed.

His Mana supply was holding steady for now, which was good. He reserved a location for dumping their bodies should they croak after cremating their corpses.

The first man Momonga altered was to see what would happen if the knowledge of his world replaced those of the victim. He let the first one go and proceeded to go with the next, ready to remove his capacity to scream. Wait, some of them were running away. The Death Knight stationed here stepped in and smacked them aside with its pavise as the rest of the skeleton warriors picked them up and held them for Momonga. A few of them were bleeding as well… Momonga considered killing one for resurrection and dispose of the rest after healing them. He had more than enough samples to work with, anyways.

Moving onto the next victim, Momonga wanted to know what would happen if he erased someone's memories as well as test the effectiveness of his newly acquired Skills.

**[Boost]**

At his utterance, an emerald-green glow shrouded him. Momonga could feel the empowerment coursing through his veins and bones.

When Momonga grabbed ahold of him, the second victim thrashed like the first, so Momonga paralyzed him with a Spell in his hand. He could punch him, but he didn't want his blood to land on his clothes.

He already wasted less than a fourth of his MP replacing that first one's general knowledge of the world. The second priest whimpered for mercy, Momonga didn't as he grabbed his head, beginning to erase all of his memories one by one, starting with his memory of how to scream.

The man started to convulse, his eyes losing focus as they stared into space blankly. Momonga started from his recent memories and burrowed his way to the roots.

The effects of **[Boost]** shortened the time of completion and empowered the strength of his Spell. Momonga continued using **[Boost]** to double his power, testing the feel of its effect as he washed the man's memories clean. Every time he stacked the skill, he felt it was overclocking his spell to higher limits, wiping his memories faster and more powerfully. He watched as the man started to drool, his semblance of self bleeding dry as time passed.

Momonga finished erasing his memories much earlier than expected, in around five minutes after stacking **[Boost]** in intervals. As a result, the man looked at Momonga, confused for a moment, drool leaking out the corner of his lips.

"...dah?" He uttered with an almost infantile innocence.

"Hmmm, what do you know about the church?" Momonga queried just in case.

"Ahh? Uda-search?"

"Good, I've reached the natal stage, and I have saved much more MP than I thought. Interesting." Momonga, satisfied with the results, gripped the man's throat.

"You are free to go," Momonga snapped the man's neck, popping the bone and crushing the windpipe in his palm with ease, as the corpse dangled in his hands. Momonga threw the body, not wanting to touch it any longer. The Skeletons made an effort carrying the corpse into another room for storage. The Overlord in charge of that room would freeze the corpse for his resurrection experiment.

Momonga checked the watch on his wrist from time to time to make sure he didn't miss dinner. He still had around thirty minutes until dinnertime, so he must conclude his experiment as much as he could ten minutes before then.

The prisoners were starting to break down into bawls, begging Momonga on their hands and knees to spare their lives. Some of them were making promises to be good from now on, but Momonga didn't care. From what Momonga heard about them from Raynare, they were nothing but losers amongst losers, vile scum that wasted their lives in taboo desires.

"Gentlemen." Momonga looked down on the pathetic worms, "I doubt that there's a life waiting for you outside anyways. If God is as forgiving as they said, then pray to him for mercy. Now, be quiet. I still have time to burn before dinner." Momonga said as he reached for his next guinea pig as the rest filled the room with pleas for mercy. He droned them out as his thoughts wandered to his appointment tomorrow with another of Rayare's, the one with the Twilight Healing Sacred Gear.

Momonga wondered what the girl was like, how she looked, and what kind of personality lied inside her.

* * *

The rising sun of the morn peeked up from the sea within the horizon, banishing the darkness once more in the endless cycle. Many minds slowly aroused from their night-long slumber, rising from their comforting beds in their respective rooms.

Languid legs of workers walked in the streets under the vibrant day. One pair of legs, in particular, was lost in thought, his mind somehow barely catching up with his actions.

Momonga wasn't exactly sure how this occurred, it wasn't all that noticeable, but something in the air seemed to distract him just enough to lose track of his steps, leading him to almost walking into the target of his search. It was pure luck at work in his bumping into her on his way towards the train station.

Blonde hair, bright and almost shining green eyes, nun's dress, and a habit, the girl fitted the description of Asia Argento to the degree that eliminated all room for error. Raynare wasn't all that verbally forthcoming about her intentions after acquiring **[Twilight Healing]**, the Sacred Gear that could heal others like any Healing Spell, regardless of race or alignment. She, _in theory_, could restore even an Undead to its perfect condition with only the small limitation being that it could not cure any form of sickness or restore lost limbs, respectively.

It was a pale variant compared to the Healing Spells and skills Momonga encountered throughout YGGDRASIL.

Yes, having a universal '_Heal_' on hand was useful, but the point was that it only had one value-number and always delivered the same payload. Momonga wasn't sure if it restored HP in percentages or in piecemeal, but its inflexibility was a glaring flaw. Still, he had no right to judge considering the value of his Sacred Gear. Otherwise, it would sound condescending.

"Are you alright?" He asked as he helped the girl righten herself.

"Me..." She looked at him with a visage of expressive concentration. "Me… _good_… Thank you."

'_Oh, right… She does not speak Japanese.'_ Momonga honestly forgot about it, that one small detail regarding Raynare's kind. When Momonga questioned the various racial abilities of the races, he discovered the ability of the Fallen Angel to communicate with any sentient species regardless of language universally. This ability explained how Raynare and her lady friends, all of whom were from Western origins, could verbally interact with Momonga, who was Japanese. The Priests Momonga experimented on were polyglots, multilingual candidates picked with Raynare for her task of spying on Issei for Azazel, which later turned into murdering Issei in cold blood.

He was damn sure that coming here did _not_ give him knowledge of Italian, so he would have to do things manually, at least for the time being.

He still reeled at Raynare's astoundedly shortsighted plan of taking the girl's Sacred Gear. In a Player's standpoint, why did she want it? No, what value did she see in it? Its only function was to heal the user and the user's targets, nothing more. In a party, a healer was essential, but the '_Profit_' part of her equation was vague and poorly defined even in the Fallen Angel's mind.

The ability to heal would only elevate Raynare from a mere grunt into a _slightly_ more valuable nurse-grunt hybrid, not much growth there.

The creepy part about her wanting Azazel's attention through the Sacred Gear, with the man being more interested in the item than the user, made Momonga cringe. What kind of girl would have a fantasy of becoming someone's lab rat and pet project? When he bluntly dismantled the girl's plan word for word, she looked at him as if he broke the laws of physics and spat on the corpse of her beloved puppy. He was starting to grow worried over the mental health of these Fallen Angels and the other biblical races.

Back to his problem with Asia, Momonga wondered if **[Wish Upon a Star]** could break down the language barrier, albeit casting magic in public was a one-way ticket to disaster. Actually, there was one way he could communicate with her. He still had the Translation Glasses in his inventory.

He stealthily slipped his hand into his pocket, hiding his moving his hand through a tear in the space of his inventory until he found his glasses. With his other hand, he created a piece of paper via **[Create Greater Item]** with his question already written on it in Japanese.

"Here." He handed his glasses to Asia and the paper to her.

"Um…" Asia tentatively took the glasses in one hand and the paper in another as she looked at them curiously.

"Read." Momonga pointed at the glasses and then at the paper, urging her to read through the glasses.

"A-Alright…" Asia slowly but nervously raised the glasses up and looked at the Japanese characters… only to lightly gasp upon seeing the letters rearrange into Italian.

Momonga wrote down, '_Would you come with me? Raynare sent me to pick you up._' He hoped that this would work.

"Ah! U-Um…" She nodded without question while flashing a sweet, innocent smile. It was so cute that it shone like the summer sun on a cloudless day.

Momonga found it super effective.

'_What the hell?'_ Raynare failed to mention about her character. She held a pure radiance about her that he could not describe, and this was just his first encounter.

Already he had the impression of a genuine Holy Maiden from her. Just by looking at her, the guilt of tricking the maiden swelled in Momonga like a balloon near full capacity. With a sigh, he took her hand and walked away with her in tow. He hoped that his Supertier spell would work and give him the translator skill.

* * *

"Can you understand me now?" Momonga asked as he spoke to her, hoping that his wish had been granted.

"Y-Yes?" Asia replied with fluent Japanese - no broken pronunciations of the words this time.

'_Yes!'_ Momonga instinctively pumped his arms into the air. His spell worked to his surprise, living up to its name and infamy. He quickly realized that he let his facade slip for a moment before rapidly coughing into his hand, hoping that she would forget about his blunder.

They were in his house in the living room. Luckily, his parents were out and won't be coming back until late at night. Asia seated herself on the couch as she looked around the room with childish curiosity.

"Please, I apologize for… _ahem_. My name is Issei, Hyōdō Issei. I have brought you here to ask you some questions. Would you kindly answer?" Momonga felt guilty, luring a girl like her into his home like this.

Looking at the situation now, he felt like a child predator and a pedophile at the same time. Still, he did it for her own good. He would not break the ice by saying that Raynare was planning to betray her and extract her Sacred Gear. A foundation of trust was needed to cushion the blow.

"May I ask what you're doing here? Where do you usually live?" Momonga took notice of her slightly emaciated state. After capturing the three idiots and the batch of guinea pigs, the corpse included, Asia must have survived on the money left behind or something.

"Um, I…"

Momonga hoped he wasn't rushing this. Their conversation did seem forced.

"Would you like something to eat?" Momonga offered, deciding to take his time with her.

"Y-Yes, please."

Momonga nodded and decided not to use his magic to give the girl time to adjust.

After a few minutes, Momonga returned from the kitchen with a sandwich and a glass of water. He watched as she clasped her hands into a prayer to her god for a moment, thanking him for the bounty, before picking up her sandwich and taking a bite.

"How is it? Is it to your taste?" Momonga asked, looking at the sandwich.

It brought a nostalgic, yet terrible memory. The sandwich reminded him of his mother's last moment, the symbol of his mother's grim reaper, which stuck to his mind like a searing brand.

"Mmmm." She nodded with a sweet smile.

Only this time, the sandwich brought nourishment and joy from a young nun, still untainted by the cruelties of the world. Momonga could feel his guilt scalding him. How did the idiots even manage to encounter such a rare find? He was dying on the inside, trying to convince himself that he was doing the right thing.

"Ahem. Um… Raynare is not here at this moment, but she will arrive after some time. Although I am afraid I am new to this business so I must ask, what do you do in your line of work?" Momonga asked, slipping his tongue a little, wondering if she would answer.

"U-Um…"

After a brief hesitation, she answered. Although her version of Raynare and her story was… _pure_. She thought that she was doing the work of God and was helping someone who saved her in her time of need. She actually painted Raynare, the same racist angel with a twisted perception of values and goals, as her savior… Momonga cannot believe it. No wonder why Raynare managed to trap her in her service.

She's just too damn _pure_! He couldn't handle such innocence! His heart and soul can't stand against her!

"Oh… uh… I see." He smiled awkwardly.

It was ironic, while Momonga wouldn't bat an eye in killing his prisoners, Fallen Angels included, or slay a dragon if necessary, he couldn't stand against the presence of a super-pure maiden.

"Well, um, do you have any goals in life? Anything you want?" Momonga's lips were already twitching, like a crooked branch at the verge of snapping in its struggling to hold the treehouse.

He could barely muster the strength even to maintain his act. Asia giggled, thinking it was just his unique quirk. It only widened the dangerous crack on his mask.

"Well…" She smiles. Momonga mentally begged her to stop smiling like that, and it wasn't healthy for his mental fortitude.

"I just want to have friends… and be happy with those I love."

Momonga could not swallow her answer easily without dying. The fact that he couldn't discern an iota of deception only worsened his guilt.

"I… I see. Um…" Momonga struggled to keep it together. He must not give in to the holy light before him. "Who do you consider as a friend, for example?"

Asia smiled. "Um… I don't know. This is the first time I've spoken with someone like this. Just talking with you… already makes me happy."

If he weren't convinced that she was a maiden, he would've accused her of bullshit. He had a terrible experience dealing with those that said those same lines before in his world, and they scarred his faith in humanity as a result.

But by just being near her, Momonga could almost _feel_ his scarred spirit… healing. He felt the same thing he thought he had lost long before, even if it was just a vestige.

Hope.

"…does that mean that I'm your friend?" Momonga hesitantly asked, afraid that her answer would finish him off.

Asia nodded in response, "I-If you would accept someone like me…"

He couldn't do it.

He dropped to his hands and knees. He couldn't do it. He couldn't tell Asia that Raynare was planning to sacrifice her just to get her Sacred Gear. He couldn't destroy the faith of a little girl like this.

"Um, I-Issei?" Asia looked at the strange, but funny brown-haired boy as he looked up from his position.

"…do you have a place to stay?" Momonga asked, straining the words out of his mouth.

She shook her head. Of course, she didn't… the guilt was bursting through the dam at this point.

"… This might seem like a dumb question, but…" Momonga slowly confessed. "If Raynare were to betray you just to have something from you, would you hate her?"

He wanted to know. He must know the extent of her purity. He must learn the limits of how pure one could be.

Asia tilted her head.

"Hmm?" She tapped the bottom of her chin as Momonga waited for her answer. "Umm, well, I don't know. But I think that she would probably want something from me."

"Want… You wouldn't hate her?" Momonga hung his jaw, baffled.

"I… would be sad. But no, I don't think I would hate her. I believe she needs it for a good reason."

'…' He gave up. He hung his head, defeated. He could not win against the innocence of a pure maiden. Asia was the worst matchup no one could conjure. She dealt more damage to him than any evil he encountered in this world, just like how any of the Divine Magic Caster Class would apply to his game Avatar. '_She's a monster…'_

Momonga wasn't used to this, and his mind could not handle the sheer purity he witnessed. She was a _Monster_ forged of innocence.

There was something in the air that made the former Guild Leader feel as if he was out of place whenever the girl's eyes met his, he could tell that it wasn't exactly something that was a threat but instead something that he was merely unfamiliar with. Being a middle-aged man in the body of a Lich in which a teenage boy housed under his skin was a very abstract situation, so there was no question that he was a _very_ abnormal presence in this World.

His mind went over all the possible solutions to this situation; he could lie or keep silent and claim ignorance, therefore hiding the whole affair under the rug. On the one hand, he would not have to be the one to solve the resulted awkwardness between the three Fallen and this girl. He was pretty sure that if she were ever introduced into YGGDRASIL, she would either create a massive following, perhaps a religion, or get eaten alive, Momonga wasn't sure which would be scarier.

With a massive weight on his chest, the former Guild Leader told Asia Argento _everything_.

* * *

"-and that is everything," Momonga confessed.

'Half _of everything.' _He omitted his true identity, the Lich and the man behind the Lich, and the nature of his powers as the caution he accrued from his YGGDRASIL days refused it. He did not have enough confidence to let the truth slip yet freely, not when he still much to learn how he arrived here in this strange, broken reality - a very, very broken reality, one that bordered the realm of actual bullshit.

Asia sat there trying to take in everything that Momonga revealed. There was another long, awkward pause between them before Asia broke the silence.

"...thank you." Tears were running down her cheeks from her eyes, glistening as it dribbled down her chin. "...you're… the first boy who shared his kindness to me… after everything."

'_Oh, crap.'_ Momonga watched as Asia started sniffling in light sobs. Did he make her cry? Did he offend her with his half-confession?

"W-Wait, don't cry. Was it something I said? I…" Momonga watched as Asia's sobs slowly died down.

Asia asked, her smile now bearing a sad radiance, "What should I do? I… don't have anyone else. I-I am alone…"

From her words, Momonga then understood. Asia was coping with the fact that she was alone, probably hurting more than ever after hearing Raynare's betrayal from his lips. The purest girl Momonga had ever met was in dire need of support.

"Um…" What could he offer her? Not even he, a scarred survivor of a doomed, ruined world, was heartless to leave a kind, innocent girl to fend for herself in a world like this. No, he _refused _to allow her to become like him, to become an empty shell of her former self under the overwhelming weight of reality.

"Do you want to join me instead? To stay under my roof?"Momonga offered.

Asia looked up, her breath held in with bewilderment, "Y-You would? B-But I have almost nothing to repay you…"

'_Just your smile is more than enough.'_ In truth, it really was. Seeing her happy was soothing to his beaten Soul. Hell, Pererochino would throw tens of thousands of Yen just to have her live under his roof. His other guildmates would offer the same if given a chance.

"Please, I insist. In fact, I'm confident that my parents would be more than happy to support my choice to care for a girl in trouble. And, as you learned, I am more than capable of providing your basic needs."

Now Momonga must figure out a way of sending her to school… she must have an education. He knew from his own experience as a poor child in a world ruined by the pollution of greed. Maybe if he begged hard enough, he could convince his parents to send Asia to Kuoh Academy, but they might need funds… perhaps he could sell some stuff he had in his inventory.

His items were memories, mementos of his golden years in the game, but, as of this moment, he could not forgive himself if he let a girl in need suffer while he still had the chance to save her. Besides, his guildmates would approve using them for her sake… now he just needs to find a buyer for all of the gold coins he had and convert them to Yen somehow. Maybe he could use Raynare to help him with that and test out her mindwipe powers if it comes down to it…

When Momonga returned to reality from his thoughts, he saw Asia looking back at him as her tears started to flow like rivers. Her smile was more elated than before, her happiness leaking out with her words.

"...I would love to."

Momonga smiled before he felt a sudden rush of… knowledge?

"Hm?" His smile creased before he started to look at her, seeing something akin to a green bar lying overhead a blue bar.

Wasn't that supposed to represent the HP and MP bar of YGGDRASIL?

"Eh?" A YGGDRASIL Icon is floating above her head. Why was there a YGGDRASIL icon above her head? This world wasn't YGGDRASIL; this was Earth from centuries past!

"U-Um…" Asia was looking at him strangely. "I-is something wrong?"

There were so many that he could not label them without risk of error.

"Just… something I forgot popped up." Momonga awkwardly smiled. "_Anyways_, Asia, I welcome you aboard. Please, I shall do my best to prepare a room for you, but let me give you a tour of my humble abode… and tell you about my plan to convince my parents to accept you."

When he recalled Raynare and the other two, he forgot that he had to feed them.

* * *

"Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am sorry for allowing myself in before you."

The priests blinked. The necromancer teleported into their room, or makeshift prison cell at this point, without notice. From the entrance, undead skeletons, including the knights donned in violent black, carried in more priests, the ones that were either mental vegetables or corpses.

The demon in human skin reduced more than half of their numbers in a single day. He continued experimenting on them, one on one, each casualty hauled off to who-knows-where outside their isolated world. It was the first time they saw them, the organs of one of the corpses dangling out while another was missing the head.

As they expected, the ones that left didn't return unscathed. Babbling mumbles and slurs droned the air from the ones still alive. One thing they knew about the teenager with absolute certainty.

The boy was a monster, the devil. There was no way that person was human. He worked on experimenting them like guinea pigs all night without batting an eyelash, then disappeared to live his life up there, ignoring their needs as they rot in their rooms like corpses.

Not a single one of them had the strength to voice their concerns, too hungry or thirsty, deprived of power.

The undead tossed their damaged comrades and the corpses of their fellow priests next to them as the undead left the room one by one. They did not react to the smell of blood, or the mind-warped babbles of the broken ones.

"Our time together was brief, infinitesimal. However, from that time, I have learned much from you, gentlemen, and your contributions are appreciated, I assure you. However, after today, circumstances have arisen and complicated your stay here. So I must bid you all goodbye from this world." Momonga aimed his hand at the emaciated priests, dead and alive, "May you burn in the pits of Hell for eternity."

**[Greater Fireball]**

From his palm, he fired a vast sphere of flame, brilliant red and white four times his height in diameter, as it burned across the air and splashed into torrents of infernal streams.

"Eh?" Momonga uttered just before the wave of fire swallowed him and briefly furnished the entire room with his hyper-buffed flames.

When Momonga reviewed his Skill Menu, he encountered the additional racial levels belonging to those of dragons. He didn't even know that Dragons had racial levels in the first place. The racial levels belonged to that of a Fire Dragon, but he underestimated just how powerful the racial buffs were.

Momonga knew that there was something seriously wrong with this world the moment his EXP related Skills, Super-Tier Magic included, were fueled by Mana and his Summons attaining absolute permanence. The laws of this world were a little too loose for his liking.

His newly acquired Dragon Classes boosted his fire-related Spells to the point where even his Seventh-Tier Spell could perform like a mini-nuke. At this point, Momonga was confident that he could solo a World Enemy in a PvP and come out as the victor regardless of the consequences.

Momonga blinked in the blinding white flames, unconcerned by the scalding heat. Luckily, Momonga received a new Racial Immunity to fire from said Dragon Classes coupled with the protection of his main equipment. The main gear was on him, just… not on his current person.

As the flames died down, Momonga looked down, finding his clothes unscathed by the inferno. He wondered how the heck did his clothes not burn while the rest of the room was melting from the heat, especially his shoes, which sunk under the molten marsh to the ankles.

The room of liquefied metal glowed in polychromatic colors, burning bright and brilliant, the ceiling dripping droplets of hot, gleaming sludge and landing on Momonga's hair, his clothes, and lava-filled floor. Suffice to say, the result was currently overkill, especially when disposing of his prisoners.

Momonga just wanted to dispose of the skeletons in his closet, irony and pun not included. He did not wish Asia to see his morbid projects when he introduces this place to her. His projects would traumatize the pure saint, and because of this, Momonga would have to abandon his dark experiments. Probably for good.

"Hm." Momonga sighed as he inspected the damage.

It was time to wish the room back to normal and replenish the Undead lost in this aftermath… and maybe clean up the room. There wasn't a speck of dust left after incinerating the prisoners at least.

Looking back at the exit, Momonga saw the entrance half-melted, seeing that the flames did not stop in this room. Walking out, feeling his shoes trudging through the molten sludge of the melted floor, he checked the halls and saw the aftermath. The splash zone spilled out of the room and licked the hallways out the exit as well, destroying even the undead stationed outside. Now that he saw it, Momonga did recall that he lost his connection with the Undead outside, including the Death Knights, a moment after the flames splashed him and leaked to the hallways. The fire stretched out far, reaching beyond even the corners of each of the two ends of the hall.

He hoped the flames reached the house basement and attracted unwanted attention.

"Note to self, reserve Fire Element Spells as last resorts," Momonga muttered.

He wondered if the flames reached the Fallen Angels in their rooms… no, Momonga did not feel his connections to the undead stationed near their room receiving any damage. He was lucky he didn't enhance the range with the widen Meta-Magic at the very least.

Anyways, it was time for him to fix the underground lair and return to Asia. But first, Momonga had a few words for the idiot trio. He also needed to feed them to his surprise.

Apparently, the three Races of the Biblical Factions could not live without sustenance, food, sleep, drink, every need a human needed. They are definitely not the same Races Momonga knew back in YGGDRASIL.

* * *

Greater Undead patrolled the halls, Eyeball Corpses looking out for any assassins or thieves while Pale Riders phased through the Earth unobstructed by the material world.

The power of **[Wish Upon a Star]** was indeed a miraculous wonder, generating an underground world sliced from the erased world of Yggdrasil. How air came in the dungeon was a mystery, despite there being no ventilation, as if the dungeon was continuously refreshing the oxygen in piecemeal for the living residents. The roof was self-supporting, nary a single sign of potential collapse.

Inside their large room, laden with furniture, clothes, beds, the three angels sat on their sizeable Queen-sized bed that which their warden made out of impossible Magics. They were slowly processing their new way of life after feeling a magical disturbance in the halls followed by a heatwave, all of which vanished afterward by a stronger wave of Magic that removed the heat as if it were never there.

"What… What are we going to do?" Mittelt asked as she gazed at the enormous shambling mass of horror that was the Death Knight standing by the only exit alongside… what others would describe as an Elder Lich, but more _ancient_. "I don't think… I don't want to _die_."

Raynare released a snort that came out more bitter than anything else.

"What _can_ we do?" She looked down at herself as if trying to decide if this was really her or not. "We're fully at his mercy, and I'm not even sure if we three can get away fast enough before someone or _something_ skewers us."

The bitter part of her also reminded her that her only advantage, probably her feminine shape and superior beauty, won't do anything right now as the teen's excessive libido was absent. It was kind of sad that, in her murdering him, she granted him the key to attaining power, so much power that he made all three of them feel small. Even worse was that with the loss of his memories, he stopped being predictable; it was as if his whole personality suddenly was rewritten into something much more… _solid_. Mature? She had no proper word for it.

"...what did you awaken?" Kalawarner asked, wanting to know what happened to him. "What did you do to… give him… this?"

She pointed at the Lich adorned in robes of immaculate ebony with gold lining the rims.

"_Nothing_." Snarled the black-haired Fallen Angel. "If piercing his gut with a Light Spear was enough for someone to gain all of _this_, then I'm pretty sure we would've been swarmed long ago! I did what I wanted and then just flew away! He was bleeding all over the ground and as close to the other side as anyone with a fist-sized hole in their gut could be."

"Do… Do you think this is part of his Sacred Gear?" Mittelt asked with a gulp as she tried to recall some of Lord Azazel's long rants about all those that were already known. "I mean… If he can do all _this_ in just a couple of days after his meeting with you… I'm not making sense, am I?"

Mittelt's muttering made the other two prisoners look at her.

"I don't think so. Lord Azazel said his Sacred Gear had a very noticeable tint of a Dragon at least. Unless it is a _Dragon Necromancer_, which is… absurd." Raynare huffed.

There was no case of Dragons dabbling in Necromancy as far as they knew. Not that any even would've if they could, there was no point nor was it a true '_Art of Life and Death_' despite the popular belief of humans. Raynare wasn't exactly savvy herself and, despite her very long life, wasn't very knowledgeable about the Magic of animating dead flesh. The dark art was only popular for the crude make of cannon-fodder, at least that was how she viewed it. Even the Gods governing the Domain of Death were averse to learning it, mostly because their methods were cleaner, safer, and much more efficient.

Necromancy was the Magic _Humans_ founded, the art of resurrecting corpses, not life.

But the ones before their eyes? Their undead guards shattered their knowledge of how Necromancy _worked_. From what they could garner, they were sure the teen did _not_ kill over a dozen innocents and slay some unknown _giants_… The Undead in the room were too _old_ like he raided an ancient cemetery from the times of the Great War, but that wasn't precisely how Raynare saw all this…

Whatever Magic was at work, it _created_ these things, without the need for corpses. Even a monkey could tell that their appearances were too similar, too much of the same make to be from different bodies.

Interrupting their moment, a tear in space-time opened up before them. The three knew who was arriving. Emerging from the void was their captor, Hyōdō Issei, as his gaze licked over their forms without any desire for their bodies.

"I am sorry for the delay." Issei raised his right hand, which held a bag containing food, ones picked up from restaurants. "I believe it is time for dinner. Are any of you hungry?"

The three Fallen Angels looked at each other. Every time they saw Issei arriving here, they either expected him to… enforce his dirty desires upon them or outright killing them. It was a feeling well-earned since they were sure that he made a Sex Dungeon or something at least.

"Um…" Mittelt raised her hand, her stomach grumbling a little.

That still did not excuse the awkwardness of the atmosphere.

"Splendid." Issei then waved his hand as a large, rectangular table carved from onyx and polished stone appeared, followed by four chairs for them, each holding a cushion for their comfort.

"Please, help yourselves. I've managed to procure them before the restaurant closed." Issei urged as he started removing the food from the bags, bringing out sushi, rice, and other consumable miscellanea for the girls.

* * *

Momonga watched as the three Fallen Angels took the food he provided, seeing their faces making expressions as if they expected something worse. It was within expectations as Momonga never bothered to feed the priests before he disposed of them. Although, in this case, they looked at the food on the table, hesitant to take his offerings. He could see the consequences of his excess impact on them exteriorizing, arousing regret for resorting to such lengths in his first attempt of intimidation.

'_That was a lot of impulsive thinking on my part, but it's unavoidable. I am not exactly used to this, so this is a head start. At least I could use this for future references.'_ It was pure dumb luck that these three barely had enough prowess between all three factions to be noticed at all, even the most basic Monsters back in YGGDRASIL could endanger them, even the ones with weaknesses against their holy attacks. Suffice to say, Momonga overestimated his opposition, the ones partially responsible for his dilemma representing one of the lowest Tiers of them all.

Underestimating his foes was a path Momonga would never cross no matter what, such as the Player Killer Killer way, a lesson he learned from his golden days learning the game. Paranoia was a companion in YGGDRASIL since Death lurked around every corner when one least expected it. One should never abandon it lest they lose their highest prized items or else - one example being the former owners of the World Item, Depiction of Nature and Society.

However, the mistake of _overestimating_ his foes was a novel experience for Momonga, a luxury that was almost impossible in YGGDRASIL. He lived in a world of the top, where hardcore players strive to improve themselves to the limit in a virtual world that would punish the casual ilk — for example, finding a max-level Player without protection against Instant Death or Time Spells. Momonga usually dabbled against the pinnacle of Players, the best of the best in PvP or PvE, where he must struggle to learn and decipher the skills and strengths of his foes even with his limited Divination Magics, and he thrived in such a harsh environment.

These three? He could read them like an open book, with spells or no spells. There was nothing they could hide from them. Momonga read them page by page, from start to finish, grasping the gestalt of their characters inside and out by picking their secrets clean.

Still, his abusing their level differences almost made him feel like a racist Anti-Heteromorph Human Player, the kind that PKs first-time players for fun. Their sad faces reminded him of his beginnings when the human Players PKed him until Touch Me rescued him, which only fueled his guilt even further.

'_Well, it's a bit too late to backtrack anyway.' _They slowly take their knives and forks, ignoring the chopsticks beside them, a preference of utensils imprinted into them from their time in the West as they were not Japanese. The silence in the air was thicker than glue, congealing. Momonga rested his arms on the edge of the table and broke the awkward silence.

"I have met your recent recruit. I must ask, where did you find her?" He could see all three of them stiffening but pressed on without showing any reaction. He folded his arms and tried to project a calm and nonchalant presence, the two Undead stationed in the room leaving the premise to give the girls peace of mind. "You picked up a priceless gem. When I heard about Asia, I didn't imagine her to be _that _pure. I thought you were reserving that crucifix for someone more… deserving of such a gruesome fate if your lackeys gave any indication."

The Sacred-Gear-removing crucifix currently sat in a room far in the northern corner of the dungeon stashed alongside the loot he stripped from the priests. It was temporary until he could find an excellent way to secure his loot, a way to layer his ideal securities.

The three angels gulped, the nervous tension making their hands shake their utensils.

'_Hmmm, probably not a good idea to bring Asia up… but I can't help it. What the hell are they thinking?'_ Momonga wasn't sure how to view these three, for all he knew, their little scavenging of a Sacred Gear of low value was less than a footnote.

"But, the funny thing, when I asked how she would respond if I revealed your hideous plan, Raynare, do you know how she answered?" Momonga asked as he slowly placed his hands on the table. "I never thought that such a _Pure Soul_ could exist. She is, in every way, too good for you or this world. Even after I confessed to her about your true intentions, she had never given in to the temptation of hate, which is a miracle in itself. If I were in her shoes, I would've slaughtered you all in an instant if the situation wasn't so complex, but that is not my right to abuse. Because of that, for her sake, I've decided to not hold your sins against you, but she is no longer in your service henceforth. Do I make myself clear on this?"

The three Fallen Angels stared at Momonga for a moment, swallowed the lump in their throats, and nodded frantically at his statement.

"Good. Now that we got that out of the way, shall we move to another topic?" Momonga asked, gesturing to Raynare for an answer. "What drove you to commit such atrocities in the first place, Raynare? From murdering me without considerable logic and betraying such an innocent girl?"

They had struck rock bottom in their endeavors, trapped and fearful for their lives. Momonga had little room to work with, considering the impact of his intimidation had wrought nothing but awkward moments after cowing them to submission. Ruthlessness and calculated wasn't the key to connect with these hopeless idiots, but he needed to connect with them to establish a ground to communicate with.

"...Ummm…" Raynare could only muster that much from her current emotional state. Momonga turned to the other two, seeing them veering their head away to avoid eye contact.

"As I stated before, I will not hold your past transgressions against you. I can understand what you're all feeling, the feeling of guilt gnawing away your insides and the anxiety it wrought." He should've worded it better, the way that the three were now looking at him was rather uncomfortable. "But there is no point in keeping silent about it, think of it as your personal time to confess. I don't have the robe or work history in my resume, but I can be a good listener, even better than some Priests out there."

They loosened their muscles to a slight degree. His words had some assuring effect, but not to the extent he wanted.

'_... I'm not very good and lowering the tension, am I?'_ His brain needed a filter to sieve the excess factor. Momonga honestly couldn't help himself as he was pulling most of his words out of nowhere as he went along.

"I…" Raynare was the first to speak, with the expression of someone being led towards a guillotine.

Her mouth shut with a click before she could continue.

"Yes?" Momonga leaned forward a little. "Go on. It's not polite to leave your partner hanging." Raynare looked away, not wanting to speak out anymore. "I have ways of extracting information from you and remove your compliance from the equation. This is your only opportunity to gain my trust."

Momonga urged as she reluctantly reforged eye contact.

"…love… recognition… power." Raynare muttered the fuel for her extreme deeds.

Momonga hummed as he pulled back, leaning on his chair.

"Is that all? Would you really move far with the power you speak of? Recognition cannot be taken, only earned after all. Besides, being at the forefront of your peers also carries burdens as well. Have you ever thought about what you would do afterward with the Sacred Gear of your preference? Most of all, how do you even define '_love_'? Is it blind devotion and worship you seek? Or is it something more meaningful?" Momonga asked, wanting to see how she will live her life.

Her answer would confirm everything he learned thus far. Raynare could not answer as she looked at her plate dejected, eyes losing their light of motivation as reality reared its ugly head in her line of sight.

'_So it would seem that even eternal beings could not understand themselves when forced to reflect.' _Momonga took note of her mindset as a basis for his library, the study of a Fallen Angel's mentality. He might wonder if her master also shared the same delusions despite his years of experience.

Did the rest of her race share this mental illness? Do the Angels and Devils suffer from it as well? While he was more than aware that humans are by no means infallible, seeing creatures with such underdeveloped intellect despite their immortal life spans called their worth into question.

'_Actually, if they are unchanging throughout millennia, would this include their mental growth as well?'_ Immortality was a controversial subject. If one was immortal, then they must remain constant not only physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. Otherwise, they might not be able to handle the changing times.

Momonga did recall how he lost track of time when studying in his room for the information on this world. He was lucky that he could bullshit his parents when they caught him pulling an all-nighter by saying that he runs on coffee to explain his lack of lethargy. However, that was no excuse not to learn and improve themselves over the years.

In short, Momonga would categorize the three as '_plebeian casuals.'_

"I see that you won't know unless you travel down this road." Momonga nodded to himself. "I will leave you girls for the night. Please, take your time thinking about your lives. After all, unlike me, you have until the end of time to make a choice."

Momonga rose from his seat as he turned around and walked away.

"Oh, and prepare a well-constructed apology for Asia before I bring her here. At least try to make up for your past sins. You already owe your victims more than your souls could amount to, but that doesn't mean you should give up on repaying it. My parents will soon return home from their 'alone time' outside, so it's a matter of time before I introduce her to the family."

**[Gate]**

After uttering that phrase, the same black rift stretched before Momonga. Through it, he returned to his room, yawning a little as he seated himself on his desk. He still had some time to study for the test tomorrow so that he would make the best of his Undead traits.

Momonga needed to prepare Asia for a healthy life sooner or later.

* * *

"U-Um, hello. I-I am happy to meet you. M-My name is Asia Argento, and I-I hope I a-am in your care."

Asia introduced herself to Mr. and Mrs. Hyoudou in the living room, staring at the two parents with eyes of untainted light emerald. Momonga stood behind Asia, one hand resting on her shoulder with an awkward smile stretching his lips as he followed up after her introduction.

"Mother, Father, um, I don't know how to say this properly, but, long story short, I met her by accident in the streets when I was taking a stroll. We talked and stuff, and I have decided that maybe we can let her stay here?" Momonga tapped Asia's shoulder to cue her signature attack - her radiant smile and a hint of puppy dog eyes. It was a bit dirty exploiting Asia's main features, but he refused to let this plan fail and resort to using **[Control Amnesia]** on them. Although, the response of Issei's parents surprised him.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh! Issei, of course we will!" The mother lunged for Asia and hugged her like a teddy bear, rubbing her face into Asia's hair very fervently. "Please call me Okaa-san from now on, okay?"

'_Eh?'_ Momonga blinked. What the hell was she talking about? Looking at Asia, he a tinge of red spreading across her cheeks.

"Oh ho ho. I didn't know you had it in you, but sure, anything for the good of the family." The father said something Momonga could not understand.

"Hah?" Momonga contorted his stolen face. What the hell were they talking about? Did they accept Asia as their own? Their cryptic choice of words concerned him.

"Oh, and call me father from now on."

What the hell was he speaking? Did they return home drunk?

"So… you're alright with her staying here?" Momonga asked.

He still could not completely understand their custom lingo. They were also unique in their own way, one of them treating Asia like a beloved toy.

"Huhu, isn't that obvious, son?" The mother smiled.

Her Cheshire-tone did not agree with Momonga's concerns. All Momonga received was that they were accepting of Asia and Asia was playing along. Looking at Asia, he saw her looking uncomfortable at Issei's parents, her gem-emerald eyes darting left and right, casting glances between Momonga and the planks of the floor.

"Well, um, then, may I show her around the house?" He asked, still affected by the awkwardness.

Momonga should move this along and introduce Asia to his secret base since she was aware of the Supernatural world. He briefed Asia of a glimpse of his power and to verbally prepare her mind for the horror roaming his private dungeon… which housed three living prisoners, all of which were female. If Pererocino were here, he would call Momonga out for creating a sex dungeon. Momonga banished that thought. He did not want to imagine what would happen if someone called his underground base a '_sex dungeon.'_

"Ohhhh, showing a girl around the house already? Did something good happen between you two?" The father asked with a heartwarming smile.

There was one mystery that popped up regarding Asia, but that was not the topic he wished to divulge.

"No, no." Momonga denied.

The married couple narrowed their eyes into teasing slits. What was with their behavior? Momonga could not understand them...

"Ohhhhh, okay okay. We'll leave you two alone, so have fun showing her around the houuuuuse~" The mother playfully waved her hand as if bidding them goodbye.

Momonga just silently took Asia's hand and led her upstairs, not wanting to withstand more of their strange behavior. Once they were outside their earshot, Momonga audibly sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand.

"I… well, I hope my parents didn't make you feel uncomfortable. It's the first time I saw them like this." At least Momonga hoped that it was the first time.

He wasn't sure if they were like this all the time when Issei was still alive. Looking back, he saw Asia smiling in response. She didn't seem bothered by the unusual nature of Issei's parents.

She shook her head.

"Nnn, I don't mind, Issei. I think your parents are very nice."

'_Very nice… well, that's one way to put it.'_ Momonga labeled them as needlessly optimistic instead. They were good parents, though, just… very estranged. However, he still failed to learn their first names during their time together.

"I think they're very energetic, in my opinion. What about you? What are your parents like?" Momonga asked.

Asia looked downcast, her smile still there.

"I… don't know. I wish I could remember what my parents looked like."

'_Oh, shit.'_ Momonga touched a landmine. He learned only the surface knowledge, how the Fallen Angels came to pick her up after the Church exiled her. According to Raynare, Asia touched a taboo during her time as a Saint, which led to the Church banishing her.

She healed a Devil that came to her for aid in the Church. After meeting Asia, Momonga started to understand why she did it. Her inner values wouldn't let her ignore a cry for assistance if she could help it, making her like Touch Me in a sense.

"Ah, um, I see…" Momonga forced a smile, a very shaky smile. "Ah, um, what is it like in the Church? I'm not a religious person myself, so I am curious."

Momonga was suspicious of the story, however. Why did a Devil come to the Church in the first place? He learned that Devils couldn't get near holy sites or symbols of God, something he had yet to confirm. Devils would usually stay away from any places of the Church like a human to pollution in his original world.

"Oh, um, it isn't as exciting as it seemed." Asia shook her head, "I stayed inside the church after they took me in."

Momonga hummed in thought, "Was it because you had a sacred gear?"

The Relics, crafted by the Biblical God himself, were of unspeakable value. The Church would need to be filled with idiots if they didn't search and collect Sacred Gear users around the planet. Actually, they might recruit him if he wasn't partially Undead. He could see a possible disagreement between him and the Angels in the distant future.

Asia slowly nodded. Momonga probably shouldn't have asked that.

"I… Having a Power that can heal Devils could be seen as heresy, but I don't regret having this power. At least, from this, I can help anyone in need."

Momonga stopped and stared at her. Why the hell must God make someone this pure? Momonga nearly fell to his knees and felt a critical hit to his soul. She was his natural enemy, and he cannot fight against her even if he had the power of God in his fingertips.

"I-I see." Momonga's crooked smile returned once more. "How did a sweet girl like you end up with Raynare, anyways?"

Momonga already knew, but he wanted to learn of her backstory from her mouth, not Raynare's. Besides, he wanted to learn more about the Devil that lead to her exile.

"Um, didn't Raynare-sama tell you?" Asia asked.

"Drop the '_sama.'_ She is no longer your superior. And yes, she did, but I want to hear it from your lips," Momonga replied.

A silent pause held Asia's lips, the soundless air deafening to the two. Asia looked at Momonga, eye to eye, and took in a deep breath before she answered.

* * *

After introducing Asia to his secret underground base, Momonga helped her digest the presence of the Undead he summoned and the three idiots. Asia was somewhat terrified at first, but she slowly adapted to the minions of Undeath quickly with his help. Momonga thought it would take a few days, not a few hours, though. She was a strong girl behind the kind exterior.

As for her reaction to the three idiots, she kindly thanked them for their time together. It was one of the most touching scenes he witnessed in real life, almost forcing him to forgive the three idiots for the retarded stunts — emphasis on _almost_.

As for Asia's future, Momonga considered begging Issei's parents to apply her for Kuoh Academy or something, although he might need to confirm the amount of Devil presence in the school and their stance against those like Asia. Asia followed the enemy of Devils, so he must be wary of them. The only alternative was to either apply her for Online Classes or apply her to another school in this town.

However, he quickly delayed that endeavor when Asia discovered the leftover Eroges the previous Soul stockpiled during their tour of the household. He made another mental note to scry his room squeaky clean of impure elements. Just how much did Issei worship porn? Momonga felt like he was in another Pererochino in an alternate universe.

He hoped that the body's former occupant didn't leave things to haunt him.

The day after, in the early Sunday afternoon under the bright blue sky, Momonga led her out to the In Touch Shopping District, where. The girl needed clothes in her size, after all. Unlike the three idiots, Asia couldn't make her own clothes. Momonga could make them, but he needed her measurements first.

He did make some first attempts, albeit unsuccessful since his lick of sense for female fashion was horrendous. Besides, his parents gave him ample allowance when he requested it for Asia's clothes, an generous amount. Momonga wondered why.

"Have you ever shopped before?" Momonga asked, holding Asia's hand as he led her through the crowd under the afternoon sun.

He would suspect that she never shopped since her profession wouldn't allow material attachments.

"N-No." She sheepishly shook her head, shining her iconic smile once again. It scalded his soul with maximum effect no matter how many times Momonga saw it.

'_How could someone like her exist?'_ Momonga found a gem he could never find back in his world. He would do his best to preserve it from the taint of this reality.

"Hahaha, well, this is my first time shopping for clothes with a girl, too. Please, inform me if any of the garments suit your fancy." Momonga smiled as they stopped before a glass window holding various dresses ranging from vermilion to immaculate-frilled white.

"Take your pick, Asia," Momonga urged.

Smiling, he watched Asia peruse the items behind the translucent glass with fidgeting indecision. Momonga almost felt like a father taking his daughter to a mall for the first time. He kind of regretted it since it made him sound old in his head, though. Still, he was glad that he could right some wrongs of the world around them.

However, as he waited for Asia, a man approached them by the side. Momonga stole a glance at the character and summarized his visage.

He was a gentle-looking, handsome young man with dark blue hair. His eyes were shut or squinted, but Momonga could glimpse the amber-gold color behind his eyelids. Shrouding his form was a cape, sickly pale, on which fur tufts of white lined around his neck. Underneath the shroud, Momonga found a black suit lined with gold, perpendicular lines crossing each other with each line and a foot separate from each other. Momonga tilted his head as his caution was already inflamed the moment he met it.

The man did not speak a word, but he slightly opened his eyes as his gentle smile contorted with wicked mocking. He already Cast **[Life Essence] **and **[Mana Essence] **in succession with Silent Magic.

Like the three idiots, this one didn't protect himself from Divination Magic. The stranger was not Human as far as he knew.

"Asia." Momonga turned to the girl. "A problem seemed to have arisen at the moment. Would you care to follow me?"

"Hm?" Asia turned to Momonga, only to cup her mouth with her free hand as she nodded in understanding. Momonga was glad that he briefed her on escape protocols should any dangerous elements pop up. She already had the magic ring containing the **[Greater Teleportation]** on her finger ready.

Momonga led her out of the mall and into the first alleyway around the corner. He could tell that the man behind her was following him like a dog that found a bone. Using YGGDRASIL statistics, Momonga averaged the man around level forty-five or less. He didn't expect to encounter anyone at this level so soon.

The question was, is the man a Fallen Angel or a Demon?

The moment they disappeared from the stranger's sight, Momonga looked at Asia as she instantly cast the Spell and vanished in a blink of light, no longer there. Just in time, too, when the man already appeared behind him. Momonga stole a glance behind him once more, seeing the man's closed eyes open out of surprise.

"Ah, I'm sorry for being a bother, but can you spare a moment of your time?" The man asked, his eyes closed swiftly to hide his amber eyes, his face a mask of pleasant serenity that made Momonga's stomach turn for reasons he could not explain. "The young lady that was with you before, with blonde hair and green eyes, Asia Argento, where can I find her?"

"Perhaps. But firstly, do I know you?" Momonga asked, his stance relaxed and face almost criminally confused. "I'm sure I would've remembered someone dressed so… _aristocratically_."

He had already prepared his **[Greater Teleportation]**, **[Time Stop]**, **[True Death]**, and other emergency Spells just in case. The refusal made the teen chuckle a little, which cemented the value of playing the role of a simpleton bystander to Momonga.

"No, I do not believe we ever crossed paths." The man shook his head as his lips quirked into a seemingly disarming smile. "But I do know Asia. We met some time ago, and I could not simply pass by and not to greet a very familiar face. She did a great service for me, and I only wanted to repay her, nothing more and nothing less."

"Ah, I see!" Momonga gave the green-haired teen a smile of his own that showed too many teeth and scratched the back of his head. "Oh, where are my manners, my name is Hyōdō Issei, nice to meet ya! It's good to hear that there are people around that want to help Asia as she seemed to be rather lonely after some jerks kicked her out of her home."

So the man was a Devil.

This might prove a rare opportunity for him to test his Mid-Tier Spells against such a foe. If this would turn into a hostile confrontation, then he'll be more than ready to unload some of his more potent ones, but still within the boundaries of the capabilities of this person. Momonga was no fool - there was no way he'll trust someone with such a blatantly fake smile.

"It's nice to meet you, Hyōdō-san." The man's slightly open eyes seem to glow slightly, but Momonga felt nary a response or affliction. "You can call me Lord Diodora Astaroth. I'm not from around here, and I'm sorry for being a bit pushy, but my time here is short, so would you kindly show me where Asia-chan is right now?"

'_Is he serious?'_ Momonga wasn't precisely aware of how the '_Higher Classes_' of the Devil society interact with the common folk, but such blatant disregard was highly offensive. He wasn't even sure if this was an intended goal or just poorly chosen wording, it all depended on the intentions of the teen before him.

"Sorry, no can do." He answered sheepishly with the most realistic, apologetic expression he could forge. "She went to rent herself an apartment, but I have no clue where the addresses those which she and her consultant will look over are. I didn't even know there were so many of those around here…"

The last part was literally placed there as an afterthought. Momonga was straining his acting prowess to the highest gear, using his experience during his beginnings as a salaryman to work when he was looking for a place to stay.

"Oh, is that _so_?" Diodora's face gained a small frown, and his slightly open eyes gave out a slight glow once more, this time a bit stronger and more noticeable for Momonga's sharp gaze. "Well, that just won't do as I cannot leave this matter unattended after finally finding her. It would be just unsightly for me to not _repay_ her _with everything I can_."

'_Yeah… no.'_ This screamed 'attempted kidnapping' no matter how he saw this.

Momonga could tell that the teen was expecting something to happen. Did this pompous Devil actually think that the former Guild Master would pull Asia out of his freaking pocket or something on the spot out of empathy? The whole conversation was off from the start, and it seemed like Diodora was only partially paying attention to the conversation they were having. Was Diodora looking down on him? No, he shouldn't be that dumb…

"I'm sorry, nothing I can do can help you with that." Momonga gave out an apologetic shrug. "She doesn't even have a mobile phone, so I have no way to reach her, and I don't know the number of the Agency she was working with here."

If he wasn't on guard, Momonga surely would've been surprised when his **[Mana Essence]** caught an anomaly within Diodora. He was aware that some mechanics of his Spells and Skills were altered in this strange and bizarre World, some lines were almost close to what Momonga knew. What he didn't expect was that the teen suddenly gained… a second Mana bar? Yeah, Momonga confirmed it upon closer inspection; it was somehow hiding behind the primary one and supplementing it.

This left Momonga confused. Was there some Item that allowed the owner to draw Mana from it? If so, then it should be an incredibly potent one by the sheer magnitude of the source alone, easily dwarfing the primary Mana of the teen several times over.

The air suddenly shifted, as if it transitioned from one mood swing to another. Momonga delivered no indication of noticing, at least on the without, while within, he shifted his choice of Spells to take into account the newly revealed anomaly, the unknown factor.

"Ah, I see," Diodora spoke as if he was tasting the words, rolling them around his mouth. "And you are helping her with it?"

"Yeah, when we met, she looked so lost and in need of help… Well, I did, and we became friends when I helped her find her way around the town." Momonga now felt as if a gun was poised at his head. "After all, isn't it just common sense to help someone in need?"

There was a moment of silence before the teen in front of him shifted slightly, his disarming smile widening until it bore an almost predatory sheen to it. Momonga wasn't sure if it was either something he said or did, it seemed to irk the man much, but his irritation did not leak out his friendly facade visually.

"Indeed, I very much agree with that." A tone of amusement followed words, seemingly from Diodora's observation of Momonga. "But wouldn't that make you a bad friend right now? If you don't know where she is and cannot point anyone in her direction, then how would she know if she missed someone important? Won't it make sense that you will be a bad friend for preventing her from meeting someone who just wants to repay her for the kindness for whom she showed some time ago?"

'_Oh, now you've crossed the line.'_ Diodora's logical fallacy sparked growing rage inside Momonga, one that nearly cost him his composure, and showed how much flawed and twisted his grasp of friendship was in actuality. So this was the same Devil that Asia saved, the same Devil that got her kicked out from the Church, and the one that set her down a dark road to a terrible fate should Momonga not confront Raynare. '_I knew something was wrong with Asia's story. This prick actually went through all that just to get to Asia?!'_

Momonga slid his hand behind him, hiding his clenched fist to stifle the fury inside him before his **[Emotion Suppression]** killed it. However, his anger continued to flare, working his Skill to the limit as he resumed playing along with this badly written play.

"Well, when you put it like that..." Momonga faked a flinch and a saddened expression. "Yeah, it will make sense but it's not like I can do anything about it..."

There was a sudden shift in the air and a visible flare of Mana. The teenage aristocrat cast his spell without a single chant, so fast that Momonga wondered if he could perform the Silent Metamagic as well.

Shock took hold of Momonga's mien like replacing the mask on his face and deceived the Noble Devil once the light-green Magical Circle radiantly blossomed under the former Player's feet. His body felt as if a very thin layer of film was suddenly pressing on it from all directions.

"Such a tragedy, Asia-chan would probably be rather disappointed for her friend to be gone, but you don't need to worry." Diodora's eyes were now open even wider as a malicious tint infested his smile. "Such a _bad_ friend like you simply do not deserve such a gift like Asia; she will understand it when I'll make sure to explain everything to her. She will need comfort, direction, a shoulder to cry on, and even someone to explain things to her about how she can survive in this New World on the other side of Church's wall… If you think about it..."

The teen's face took a thoughtful expression, with his eyes being closed as if he entered deep ponderance. Momonga stared at him, confused. What was he doing? His spell wasn't inflicting any form of damage upon him, so why wasn't he suspicious of his spell's ineffectiveness?

Was he…

"You may even redeem yourself - all you need to do is to _disappear_." The pressure grew, compiling on Momonga, but he barely registered the increase of force.

The feeling was strange, but he could tell that the gestalt of his immunities was shielding him from the information flowing in his mind. Well, if he was finally showing their hands…

"Well, it's kind of sad that this charade will have to end." Momonga's face shifted from the fake shock into boredom, as if taking off his mask. "It was fun while it lasted…"

He gave Diodora nary a second to respond, his right hand-delivering a solid backhand to the green-haired teen's right cheek faster than the pain could register.

"_Gah_!" The Magical Circle shattered like glass from Momonga, actually putting up some resistance to it.

"Of all of the many options you could've taken to gain Asia's location, instead of earning her trust and have her come to _you_, you picked something so _cheap_ and yawn-worthy that I cannot help but cringe upon imagining the reasons within your train of thought." Momonga started slowly walking towards the teen that by now spat some blood out and even a whole tooth. "I was wondering why you didn't even notice my lack of response to your Spell, but to think you're this stupid. It explains why you also decided to embark on the cliche route of a '_Comforting Friend,'_ using probably her first _real_ friend as an expendable piece. I mean, falling in love with your savior isn't exactly as unexpected as many would assume, an inverted Florence Nightingale Effect is a _thing_…"

Momonga recalled a popular series in the West where there was a villain that made his doctor undergo the same process in a sense, but not like this. This bastard was attempting a more convoluted and retarded version of it, something that would earn him a one-way ticket to the deepest layer of hell.

Diodora seemed to finally recover from the shock of being hit in the face and turned towards Momonga while still on the ground, shooting an almost bestial snarl at Momonga.

"_How dare you_…!" But he was cut short.

**[Paralysis]**

Momonga didn't bother letting him speak, already pointing his palm at the young-looking Devil and cut his rant short.

"Sorry, but it's my turn to take the verbal lead." He made a note that whatever that secondary source of Power Diodora was carrying around seem not actually to protect him from his Spell. Empowerment only, maybe? Probably works more on offensive power, perhaps, along with the substantial Mana boost.

"Let me tell you about myself. I'm usually quite tolerant, but a person can change if they've lost their memories after surviving an attempted murder. However, things got worse once that person found his murderers and interrogated the truth out of them, and that truth turns out to be something so stupid I cannot help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.

"After meeting a certain girl that my murderers recruited recently, I have come to terms with my morals and values with her help. And I am afraid that what you did falls onto the line where I cannot let you live without suffering for what you've done."

It was a pity that even lying prone on the ground, the teen still could talk. **[Paralysis]** wasn't a potent Spell, allowing some minor functionality of the target.

"_What have you done to me_?!" There was a hiss as if the teen was trying to spit venom as Momonga. For all the former Player knew, the Devil could do so, and the only thing stopping him was the Spell. "_You cannot_… _Gah_!"

Momonga delivered another backhand and slapped his other cheek, already sick of his voice, leaving another red mark on his pale face.

"Unfortunately, while you're lying down on the floor like a helpless slug, you seem to have forgotten the importance of etiquette. You missed the important detail that I was still talking and how rude it is to interrupt someone when they are on a roll, you know." Momonga lazily reached out and grasped Diodora's head and turned it to look right into his amber eyes. "As I was saying, while I still have my train of thought, let us return to your '_plan_' to whisk Asia away. Looking at you, I can already see the motivations behind your exiling Asia with your meddling. I am very, _very_ livid right now, you see? You cannot imagine how much I'm holding myself back from popping your skull like a grape. Still, I _can imagine_ the ugly reasons why you want someone so pure to the point of getting her exiled after seeing your gaudily decorated attempt at murdering me. From that, I have more than enough reason to treat you like the little piece of shit you are."

"You lowly worm, I will… _Ghhh_!" Diodora's words were once more cut short when Momonga's fingers started to dig into his scalp, not to the point of drawing blood but dangerously close to it. "_Filthy… plebeian..._"

"And that's another thing! If you just walked away and continue to look for her on your own, I would've let you go. You should've kept your mouth shut when you're doing the deed as, as the saying goes, the mouth is the source of disaster, and it gave me excess reasons to kill you." Momonga gave his target a mockingly helpless expression. "Not only that, you managed to dig your grave down even further, which is a feat in itself, by trying to turn me into a martyr for your cause of obtaining Asia's affection and trust, something that looks to me you did not just once or twice. Is Asia even your first attempt? There's no way that someone like you could pull off that set-up without prior experience."

"Get your hands…" This time, Momonga crashed Diodora's face into the asphalt, _hard_. "_Wahh_!"

The crunch was very satisfying, and when he pulled the teen's head back up, he saw blood streaming from his nose, which was now twisted, broken, and deformed beyond repair. How long it will take for him to recover from it, he mused absently?

"Now, let me see if I get it right because I'm flying blind here. You were so sure that it was the most efficient way to go that you didn't even try any other one, you probably didn't even have any other plan tucked somewhere in your tacky robe. Am I getting colder or hotter with this?" Momonga didn't let him reply and continued with a thoughtful expression and a slightly mocking tone of voice. "And that actually begs the question. Why would you be so dedicated to finding and gaining the trust of some Nun - one your little stunt caused the Church to throw her out? And don't even start on how obvious that it all was a set-up; the whole scenario sounded and looked so rehashed that I couldn't tell if you were even there half of the conversation."

Momonga punctuated his disbelief with how poorly the act was by once more smashing Diodora's face into the ground, the crunch this time being less defined, but still there.

"_Urgh_..." There was a moan of pain as he pulled the young Devil up.

"Now, why would you bother going through all this? Oh, let me think. The only thing Devils do with Humans is turning them into pseudo-Devils via these things you have, Evil Pieces." Momonga was merely grasping at conjecture, but the picture he was painting was not without a grain of truth. "Which reminds me. If I would check through your pockets, would I find an Evil Piece, one that you intended for Asia Argento? You really don't have to answer that now. We can see for ourselves with a reveal."

His free hand was moving before Diodora had any chance to react, darting forwards and into an inner pocket of his tacky coat. After a few seconds of rummaging, his fingers wrapped around a small solid object before pulling back, a red **[Bishop]** glinting slightly under sunlight with luster.

"Gif thah bah!" Diodora tried to speak through his broken teeth but failed.

**[All Appraisal Magic Item]**

"Well, what do we have _here_?" Momonga gained a small smug smirk as he turned the Evil Piece in his hand, right in front of Diodora's face. "Whoever made these trinkets is truly a genius, so much potential in such a small container. Even if I find the purpose somewhat disturbing and unfit for such a magnificent invention, I cannot fault him for it. Desperate times are always the root of desperate measures, can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, and all that comes with it. I could even call his cause _noble_ if not for the fact that others, _like you_, are vitiating his righteous intentions."

**[Greater Break Item]**

And then, before the wide eyes of the young Devil, his Evil Piece crumbled into dust, and it vanished into nothing. There was no were no fanfare, no great show of Power, just something that was made to last crumbling away, not with a bang but with a whimper.

"Ah..." The green-haired teen looked at a loss of words, frozen even.

"And the culmination of his efforts and aspirations is now dust because of the runt from the Noble Clan he _once _hailed." Momonga's smile grew wider, almost cheeky, after placing much emphasis on the word 'once.' "Isn't that _ironic_?"

With the hand that was holding onto Diodora's skull, Momonga cast the one Spell that would bring the most damage to the Devil, one to his spirit more than his flesh.

**[Energy Drain]**

"_Gaaaaahah_!" Diodora screamed through the blood that was still flowing from his face, something that nobody would notice nor hear as the strange barrier that the same young Devil placed around the area right before trying to kill Momonga was now preventing him from being seen. "_Waaaaaaah_!"

His body was twitching as if trying to overcome the Effect of **[Paralysis],** but his strength was… slipping. Diodora was becoming weaker and weaker under the sensation of might withering into a lifeless husk.

"But we really strayed off-topic there, didn't we?" Momonga moved Diodora's head a bit close to his own and looked him right in the eyes. "What you just heard is me venting all of my grievances I had with your little stunt. When I met Asia, I was taken aback by her innocence, a level of purity that is too good for this World. When I heard about you from her lips, I thought something was strange. Like, why the hell did a Devil even bother coming to the Church in the first place? A place that all Devils would stay away in most circumstances considering that the location is a literal death-sentence for beings like you.

"Now, after meeting you so early on, I cannot _express_ the amount of rage I have after knowing that there was actually a bastard so sick and low targeting someone like her from the start, something I cannot forgive even if God up there told me to grant you amnesty. The proverbial pendulum of this? It finished its swing when I asked what she wanted in this world; she told me that all she wanted was friends, people to be with her. I've committed myself to be a friend for her, her family, and I will live up to that role for goddamn sure. What better way to start other than this?" Momonga let his eyes glow crimson red as prolonging the waste of life's suffering to make him feel the full weight of his actions and the consequences carried with it. "So, I thank you for the opportunity to meet a great friend such as Asia, and as a show of my gratitude, I will let you experience every little bit of it till _the very end_."


	6. Chapter 6: Unwanted Disaster

**Here is one of the experimental ideas inserted. Let me know what you think.**

* * *

Stray Devils were rare, but inevitable occurrences. There were many reasons why a Reborn Devil would betray their master. One, there was a high chance the master would abuse the Peerage system. Two, the Devil Hierarchy had yet to be reformed by the upper echelon. And three, there were cases where the Stray would free itself from its leash in its pursuit of power.

One of them resided in an abandoned house, one of the many victims of land sharks in Japan despite its spacious interior and appealing exterior. The interior was baroque, its roof rounded into a hemisphere and the interior still bearing furniture left behind from the previous owner.

The female Stray, Viser, dropped from the ceiling and landed on her quadrupedal legs. The room shook from her weight as she looked out the window, peering at the moonlit night through the glass, ready to hunt for more fresh meat to sate her hunger and increase her power.

However, to her surprise, the door leading inside the room opened, followed by the sound of soft steps casually strolling into the room - under her notice.

That should be impossible.

Toot sweet, Viser threw her head behind her, seeing a… young boy with somewhat attractive features, his hair brown and amber eyes staring at her. When her eyes met his, she flinched. There was a piercing cold she could not describe, a dark void ready to consume anything that dared to reach in.

Not only that, she could not smell his scent, which was impossible unless he was either inhuman or a skilled mage.

She composed herself, turning her bulky body to face towards the intruding man. "My, my. To think that a morsel would come to me at the right time."

She calmed herself. Whoever he was, she was assured. He looked like someone she could crush him and feast to her leisure. Oh, she salivated upon imagining the taste of his delicate flesh and bones.

"May I ask, why are you here? Judging by your calm gaze, you came here for me. Ohhhhh, don't tell me… you're here to see my beauty?" She cooed as she squeezed her breasts, slowly pinching her naked nipples to prepare her _special _milk.

"Truthfully, I'm here to meet a monster…" The man replied as he stopped. He narrowed his eyes and she could feel his focus was glued to her twin treasures. He must have fallen to the temptations of her glorious breasts. "But…"

* * *

"...why is your upper-half naked? Have you lost your modesty?" Momonga asked, flinching from disgust once his eyes lowered to her bestial half.

The idiot trio managed to make themselves useful when they managed to detect a Stray Devil in the vicinity. Still, Momonga didn't expect his first encounter with a monsterized Devil would be this… unique.

However, his disgust deepened when the centaur-chimera started to fondle her breasts in front of him, moaning like a harlot as… Momonga squinted his eyes. Are those magic circles pivoting around nipples? What was she doing? Was she…

"Wait, are you trying to..." Before he could finish, something fired from her teats, yellow and flying at the speed of bullets.

"_Whoa_!" Momonga ducked on instinct, letting the projectiles fly overhead and striking the wall behind him. The sound of sizzling bubbles crackled behind him, pulling his attention away as he stole a glance at the aftermath.

The wall was melting. Why was it melting? Especially by something that was from a woman's most sacred parts?

"What… _the hell_?" Momonga asked before turning back to the woman.

"My, my, you're fast for a young man. Ahhhhhh, would you spare your strength for a beautiful lady?" She spoke in a voice that highly contradicted her True Nature.

"...there's something deeply wrong with you, woman. No, '_woman_' is too good for you. I don't know what you are, but I prefer to purge you from my memories," Momonga shivered. "And preferably the World itself..."

This gal would give men nightmares and make them swear off the opposite sex under the right conditions. Not even his emotion suppression could defeat this overwhelming aversion. It was something he never thought he would feel even during his time in YGGDRASIL, not even some of the most frightening Undead or Demon could evoke such revulsion.

"Oh, dear, dear." She took a step forward - before her face twisted into a maniacal mask of rage and insanity as her centaur limbs expanded with muscle before she pounced at the half-traumatized magic caster. "I'M GONNA TEAR OUT YOUR DICK FOR SUCH GALL, YOU LITTLE SHIT! I, VISER, AM THE ONE AND ONLY BEAUTY THERE-"

**[Acid Javelin]**

While his aim was a bit off due to the target thrashing around in her frenzy the Spell still hit her on one of her overgrown arms with a very curious result, rending her to fall while she was still in the air halfway before landing.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!" Her tirade swiftly transitioned into a shrieking episode of agony.

His hand was still pointing at the shambling abomination as he watched her flesh starting to sizzle and melt. At the same time, she rolled left and right in agony, her skin dissolved and liquified from the Second Tier Spell before the acid started reaching her bones.

'_Well, this happened.'_ He wasn't precisely sorry for the attack due to her blatant attempt to murder him, but the sheer damage visibly eating away at her body was surprising. Not much remained as the Spell ate through her bones and started on the stumps, the separated part falling onto the ground, beginning to convulse in twitches.

"So, it now can be considered as a Damage-Over-Time Spell?" He mused aloud. "To have such a powerful reaction to just a Second Tier Spell, your Resistances and Defences must be utterly pathetic. Not a surprise, but more of a disappointment. If I wanted to be honest with myself, for all the form and the presentation, you had very little substance to back it all, not that I expected much from you, anyway."

Momonga knew the effects of **[Acid Javelin]**, but to think it would actually translate into spewing literal acid… although, wasn't this excessive? The melted soup that was the thing holding her massive limb to her torso was bubbling on the floor. It was very graphic in the eyes.

He originally came here to capture it and interrogate it for information on how Devil Society functions, inserting a few questions regarding Diodora Astaroth, but he would not take this thing. Its existence was a direct insult to all beautiful maidens on this green earth. He would not let that thing breed and multiply. Besides, he was going to kill it regardless, wanting to test a theory of his after his murder of Diodora.

However, he could at least attempt to claim the prize resting within the thing's revolting flesh.

"Anyways, let's get this over with." He walked towards the screaming bag of meat as he silently fired five more **[Acid Javelin]** at its limbs left and right, making sure to remove its fangs and claws. Judging by her reaction, including the tears and snot flowing from its eyes and nose, this thing would live.

He refused to refer to that thing as a '_she_' from now on. It had long forsaken its identity as a female the moment it became this thing.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!? WAIT! PLEASE, _SPARE MY LIFE_! I-I-"

"Quiet." Momonga stopped by her head as he grabbed her throat, squeezing her windpipe and choking the life out of her. "You forfeited your right to live as a proper being the moment you chose this path."

Finally, she was silent as he lifted her. He ignored her struggles or her flailing arms, bashing his head. It barely tickled, anyways.

**[Energy Drain]**

Momonga started draining her of her Levels… or should he call it Life Force? In any case, it no longer mattered as he felt her hits weakening with each second. He deprived her vitality dry, feeding on her meager Life Force for levels he might or might not gain. After the end result, which was her inevitable death, Momonga felt something else entering him along with a hard object touching his palm.

"Hm?" Momonga looked at the thing lying in the palm of his hand after the thing died under his **[Energy Drain]**.

He could tell with confidence that she was dead from his **[Life Essence]** Spell. Dropping the corpse, Momonga looked at the thing in his hand. It was a red chess piece, a **[Knight]**.

"...really?" He was both confused and relieved. The first because he didn't believe his Spell capable of extracting an Evil Piece and the latter since it spared him from the hideous ordeal of digging into her repulsive carcass. "Well, more food for thought."

Momonga nodded as he looked down at his work, frowning upon seeing the twisted face of the corpse. The tears were still dribbling, and the snot was flowing out like water from a broken dam, while the eyes were bloodshot with terror. Why the thing decided to become this abomination he did not know.

What was more, Momonga did not feel any more increase in his levels after consuming hers, either because he could increase the same racial level twice or his target's level was too low. Yes, his **[Energy Drain]** Spell could now steal levels of his victims, actual levels and add them to his own. However, it was limited to Racial Levels, not Job Levels, or something like that.

When he discovered this, he found out where his Dragon Levels originated.

He devoured the dragon that once lived inside the gauntlet and the soul of the boy himself. As for the latter of the two, Momonga was not sure since the boy was dead the moment he entered, so there was a slim chance that Issei's soul passed away peacefully into the Heavens above.

However, something had happened after he drained Diodora of levels.

"...must I really call upon _them_?" Momonga groused.

Ridding the room of evidence was a hassle even for him, and using his Wish Spell was overkill in this scenario. He really did not want to deal with his Undead servants since, after consuming Diodora's Levels, which lead to him becoming part-Devil himself, one of the Skills of the Devil Race had… changed his Summons.

The skill was called **[King's Crown V]**, a Passive Skill that synergizes with his other Skills and Spells, improving the aesthetic side like making his Spells more pleasing to the eyes and such according to the description. The effects were minor on paper but subverted his expectations when it extended to his Summons. There, it functioned more as a Curse than a Buff that was glued to his Character.

The effects transcended what the description implied.

It corrupted them, from terrifying Undead designed to cull all life into feminine versions of themselves.

Meaning his Undead literally underwent a sex change through means that could only be possible through Cash Items meant to alter the appearance of the Player. Not only that, the process somehow bestowed his Summons a form of _sentience_, or, more precisely, made their sentience more pronounced than ever.

Those like the Death Knights could converse with him and such before the corruption under their stoic exterior, albeit… more masculine and befitting their thematic lore. Now?

Momonga grimaced as he mentally communicated with his Undead hidden in his dungeon. A moment later, a **[Gate]** appeared beside him as a few Elder Liches exited the scene, but instead of rotten corpses donned in academic robes…

"Father called upon us." Came a voice as a figure in a tattered hooded cape floated. "We came upon Father's summon."

White shaggy hair, violet half-lidded eyes greeted him, with the only article of clothing being the mentioned purple hooded cape and bony skull-themed ankle and wrist bracers. Pale, greyish-white skin, and a large metal cross-shaped decoration were showing behind their heads. He could see the purple eyes on each arm of the cross, black lines of the slitted pupils moving as they took in the new surround and violet energy seem to be leaking out of them. Each of the Elder Liches floated into the room looking like mostly naked girls with rather shapely forms, but the sheer adoration and worship in their gazes as they looked at him killed any negative effect they had. Each of them held a book bound in brown leather and decorations made out of bony claws and a skull on the front. They were all linked together worked akin to a Hive-Library for their collective knowledge.

"We obey Father's words." Another one said in the same quiet and monotonous voice. "What does Father desire of us?"

Yeah, the borderline zealous worship they had for him was not helping as three pairs of eyes looked at him with expectations.

"Just… erase the evidence."

"_Yes, Father._"

Before, they addressed him as The Supreme One with fanatical reverence. Now, they call him Father with an adoration that strung his guilt every time it hit his ears.

At first, Momonga wanted to get rid of them to free himself from the sheer embarrassment, but Asia was present when the corruption occurred so he could not banish them. Not only that, but he also stated that she liked them better this way… because they were '_cute_'. At least this Curse had an upside, diminishing the fear factor when introducing them to his allies or other people, but not like this. Momonga wanted a more profound solution than this ridiculous transformation.

However, their appearances betrayed their design and purpose nor should they be pleasant to the naked eyes. His Undead was to inspire fear and sow terror to his foes, not… _seduce_ them with pleading eyes. Worse, the moment they gained a semblance of sentience made him feel so guilty… why did they have to look at him with eyes like that? It was not fair.

He wanted to build an army that would slay his enemies, not to be a father figure to his 'daughters.'

'_This world is Bullshit.' _

Momonga always knew that something was off with this world. The absence of his Level Cap was enough of a bad omen, but after two consecutive encounters with the absurdly perverse elements, one of which he recently sent to Hell, he started to understand what kind of world he was in even though a significant part of him refused to let it sink in.

His plans on creating an Undead army that could support him in his eventual independence against the Three Biblical Factions were delayed until he could acclimate. Momonga was a Summoner, meaning the Undead and otherwise he conjured were to die for him in combat at his will, but how could he use his Undead as his soldiers now when they looked like cute girls, clingy, affectionate, and sometimes trying to be cuddly? Their being female hindered his full battle potential and he did not want to forsake what moral values he had left just to retain his abilities.

If he knew that consuming that asshole's Soul would cosmeticize his forces, he would've used **[True Death]** on him instead. Not only that, but some of his zombie-like Undead like his Ghouls were also requesting food, their need to eat being absent notwithstanding. His main staple of Undead was the Skeleton variety, so it should not be a problem assuming… maybe he could feed the corpse to them and save him the trouble while the others clean up the trail.

'_Yeah, let's do that.'_ Looking at the Elder Liches performing work, firing **[Acid Javelins]** at the body, Momonga watched as the large carcass slowly melted away into liquid biomass.

'_Looks salvageable.'_ Maybe he should consider feeding his prisoners to his minions next time, assuming that it wouldn't rise as undead. Besides, he needed to inspect the Evil Piece he managed to tear out of the abomination.

* * *

When Momonga returned to his bedroom, seated on his bed under the guise of a moonlit night, he used **[All Appraisal Magic Item]** on his newest prize, receiving some very potent inconsistencies from the results.

'_I'm not sure if Raynare is simply ignorant or just misinformed of how these things worked in general.'_ What he now held between his index and middle fingers was an impossible creation as far as his knowledge went, a Level-Up Racial Change Item in contrast to her description.

His spell informed that anyone who imbibed it into their being would gain five Racial Levels, five extra points of Lesser Devil, a type of demonic race that did not exist in YGGDRASIL.

There were Devil subspecies amongst the demonic races of YGGDRASIL, but there was no such thing as a Lesser Devil, only Devil or Archdevil. This revelation made Momonga question the sparseness of variety in the races in Hell.

From the Racial Levels, other than bonuses to overall parameters, they bestow minor increases in Attack Speed and Movement and to an extent.

But unlike the **[Fallen Seeds]**, **[Book of the Dead]**, or the **[Heaven's Feather]**, there were some apparent dangers and possible side-effects if misused or abused.

One, it could malfunction and cause mutations if the user desired or their Karma values drop below a particular line, like with the Stray Devil he killed, which was strange. He never heard of Karma affecting the Racial abilities and paths this way or even knew that the Devils here could turn into true monsters.

The key was the disbalance of Power resulting from too much negative Karma, which caused her body to mutate. Otherwise, stability was the other key in maintaining the Devil's proper form along with the adaptability and compatibility of the host in question.

Momonga was also rather glad that **[Energy Drain]** seemed to damage the automatic recall function that would've activated upon the death of the Host, so the Evil Piece didn't teleport back to its creator. Whoever Ajuka Astaroth was, he really was a man of innovation; there were seemingly dozens of functions and little niches all over the crystalline Item. While the spell revealed the creator and the history behind the item, the manufacturing process was vague, other than Agreas Island being the abundant source of the crystal material needed for the construction.

He was slightly envious of Ajuka.

None in YGGDRASIL could replicate such an effect. Momonga wasn't confident that he could create one, even with **[Wish Upon A Star]**, as he is now.

The Classes, Skills, and the knowledge required to get to recreate a similar Item… even if the strength was severely lacking, the sheer complexity was through the roof. Momonga preferred not to delve into that rabbit hole.

It would only damage his Gamer-Soul further. He refused to give in to the _bullshit_.

However, now that he thought about it, could he break the Evil Piece in a Reincarnated Devil if he used **[Greater Break Item]** on them? It could be a great surprise tactic to use against a strong Reincarnated Devil, and he needed to test his freedoms with his powers.

He hoped that the Astaroth guy did not have a method of protecting the Evil Piece should he learn of this Spell. It would be very unfair if the guy could create Artifact grade items, the ones that cannot be destroyed by Player hands in YGGDRASIL. Moving on, he Cast **[Greater Break Item]** on the useless piece, watching it disintegrate into radiant nothingness. As far as he knew, Astaroth might have a method to track the Evil Piece if it wasn't so broken beyond repair.

This venture proved quite profitable. His Undead were busy cleaning up the mess with their **[Acid Arrow]** Spells, leaving him free to continue studying the night. He looked back at his bed, seeing someone lying under his comforters.

Asia was sleeping soundly there, her breaths like soft whispers with her head laid supine.

She needed his bed more than he did. Momonga lightly smiled as he watched her turn over and mutter in her sleep.

"Issei…" Was she dreaming about him? The sight of a girl dreaming about him wrung new emotions within Momonga along with embarrassment. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, smiling at the.

"Sleep well." She needed it after Momonga broke the news about Diodora.

Her response was crying in tears when Momonga told her the truth about Diodora's murder attempt and his intentions with her. She didn't believe him at first, but Momonga slowly convinced her. She was a strong girl, stronger than he ever could be inside.

'_Now that I think about it…'_

The remembrance of that vile scum made him recall the secondary MP bar.

He looted all of Diodora's possessions after he sucked his Life Force, and Soul, dry. After appraising every Item he could find on Diodora's body, Momonga failed to ascertain the source of the secondary MP Bar. Where the hell was it?

Momonga quickly reviewed the effects of his **[Mana Essence]** Spell. Generally, It allowed him to see the MP of others in the form of a standard YGGDRASIL MP bar. Never did he encounter someone with two MP bars in YGGDRASIL. The Developers would never give Magic Casters like him a secondary MP bar since it would completely wreck the balance of the game.

He tried to recall the missing link. It was impossible unless Diodora had surgically installed another Mana source inside him… or was it another living being inside him supplementing the extra mana? He recalled that symbiotic insects do exist in YGGDRASIL, one of them being a Lip Bug, which Genjiro inserted into Entoma.

'_I should've brought the corpse with me…'_ Momonga wanted to bring Diodora's corpse for further inspection, but if Diodora managed to track him down using Asia, then the others could through Diodora's remains. So instead of leaving it there to rot like with that first Fallen Angel he killed, Momonga disposed of the body, leaving a splattered mess behind before warping away before witnesses arrived. The smear in the alleyway was on the news, front coverage, and it brought a smile to Momonga's face that he would be remembered as a nameless mess, although it was strange why his corpse didn't disappear like the fedora man.

Still, he wanted to know if there was a technology that Astaroth guy made that could provide a secondary MP source. That knowledge would've been useful indefinitely.

The limitless possibilities of this world could allow even that bullshit along the way. To his chagrin, Momonga almost never used the word '_bullshit,'_ but this bullshit world was completely and utterly ludicrous.

Anyways, Momonga needed to return to studying again for classes. His all-night studies helped him make tremendous progress with his grades, though he might consider getting a tutor to speed the process somewhat. The problem was whether or not he could get a tutor that won't ask questions the motivation behind his studying.

* * *

The room was aristocratic in theme, paintings hanging in front of a beige wall opposite the door, decorated in darkened patterns of spades, looking at the back of a crimson-haired beauty under distress.

"Why isn't he using the pamphlet?" The president of the occult research club tapped her finger on a mahogany desk with irritation crawling under her skin, annoyance that slowly started to leak out of her features.

Her Familiar delivered the pamphlet to the promising boy with the Sacred Gear, but he never bothered to activate the pamphlet and Summon her to his side. She thought that her pitch would catch a bite from the infamous member of the Perverted Trio, but she received nothing, nary a response.

She would not let such a promising candidate go, not when Riser was nipping at her with encroaching fervor.

Rias was sure that the contents would appeal to Issei's infamous tastes, one forged from research into his background and his fondness for the female bodies. In the pamphlet, Rias added the promises fulfilling his dreams if he accepted, women mostly, yet Issei never took the bite.

She placed a hand on her ear, funneling her Mana to form a red magic circle next to her ear, a Communication Spell to one of her peerage.

"Koneko-chan," Rias called out with saccharine.

She waited for a response as she awaited a response from her beloved junior.

"_... Hai, Kaicho."_ Koneko answered. Rias could almost feel Koneko nodding from the other side through the spell.

"Would you kindly do me a favor?" She sweetly asked.

"_Mhm."_

"May you go check on the sophomore known as Issei Hyōdō again? I want to confirm a suspicion."

From the rumors circulating the school, Issei had changed behavior. The girls gossipped how the infamous member of the Perverted Trio was falling out, whispers of possible recovery from degeneracy.

"_... Yes. I will do it after class."_

"Thank you, Koneko-chan." Rias adored sweetly.

Koneko was a very good child.

Moving on from Issei, Rias should prepare herself for an investigation.

The Stray Devil, Vizer, that hid within Kuoh had disappeared, went silent. The rogue Knight that abandoned her Master was not heard from, vanishing without a trace and sans reason.

It was strange, now that she thought about it.

She and her Peerage undergone a mission to destroy her, but to their surprise, she was nowhere to be seen. There was no trail she left behind, and Rias was sure Vizer couldn't cover her tracks in a few days.

What could've happened to her? She couldn't disappear from the face of Earth without them noticing.

* * *

The school was large, bearing an enormity reserved for the social elites - something that Momonga only see in historical pages on the internet.

Momonga had to wonder what kind of founder would fund such a lavish school as he circled the buildings, absorbing the sight of the western architecture during his stroll.

The buildings piled stone compiled upon stone, rows of windows reflecting the glare of the afternoon sun drawn in lines with the entrances dotted below in the front and back sides.

After investing enough results in affording a break from his studies, Momonga could finally intake the beauty of the school with his own eyes.

According to the information he scrounged from the library and asking around, this large building was the high school division of the Academy, adjacent to the lower grades from junior high to kindergarten and the college-level building. This school was once an all-girls school, a private one at that, which explained why the gender ration tipped in favor of the females.

He explored the interior first, learning which classroom was which, before moving to the outside, taking in the aristocratic scenery. Momonga wondered if the founder was from the West or a fan of Western culture.

"Oh, i-it's Issei-kun."

Momonga stopped as he picked up voices.

He looked around, finding himself in the sandy court of the PE classes and the girls around it. Behind him, the girls huddled together were in haoris with wooden shinais held in tight grips. Shinais that were pointed at him with cautious prejudice with Murayama and Katase at the vanguard.

He found it embarrassing that he ended up on their court unawares in the first place, though. He did have a tendency to be lost in thought sometimes.

"Issei! Keep your perverted eyes away from us or else we will kick you out!" Murayama shouted at him. "We have your idiot friends tied up inside for peeping on us! Don't tell me you want to join them?!"

'_Hah?'_ Momonga blinked at the ridiculous response. He was wondering where the hell those two were today. He didn't see them anywhere after lunch.

"Ah, sorry. No, I am not here to join them. I stumbled here since I was… lost in thought." Momonga awkwardly denied the girls of the notion.

"If you want them back, dream on. We will never let them go after breaking into our locker room to steal our panties." Murayama chastised.

'_Really? Again?'_ No matter how many times he heard about it, he still couldn't adapt to the duo's antics. Breaking into the girl's locker room to peek at their bodies was beyond unreasonable, insane if repeated more than once.

"No, keep them. Although I don't think it's a good idea to keep them there. They might get off on the violence," Momonga warned.

The girls blinked upon hearing his denial and warning.

"Huh?" Murayama sounded as if she couldn't believe his ears.

"Issei, are you okay?" Katase asked as if she was concerned with his mental health.

'_Yes, yes I am.'_ He was sound in mind, minus the part where his entire Undead army got corrupted into fetish versions of themselves.

"Of course I am."

"No way… is Issei… cured?" One of the girls behind the Kendo Duo muttered as if it was a miracle.

For Issei being relieved of his perverted desires as a miracle only made Momonga even more depressed than he was in that person's body. The girls pulled back and huddled up together, whispering amongst themselves, yet with Momonga's enhanced hearing, he could hear their private mutters distinctly like he was with them.

"Is it true? Is it really happening?"

"One of the Perverted Trio is actually becoming… decent?!"

"What should we do? We have one less pervert to deal with."

"I say we test him to make sure… and then…"

"Then what? Should we celebrate?"

Momonga looked at them blandly as if he was seeing Ulbert and Pererocino muttering their plans to prank him like in the good old days back in YGGDRASIL. He stared at them as they continued gossiping amongst themselves like the schoolgirls they were until they finished, all eyes turned to him. He wondered if they were using him to entertain themselves if they were bored given how enthusiastic they were.

"Issei~"

With a cute tone and gait, Katase walked up to Momonga, sparkles seemingly twinkling from her eyes as she blinked to entice him. She blushed noticeably, looking away for a moment as she slowly tugged at her haori, pulling the flaps of her cloth and partially revealed some of her naked skin.

"W-What do you think?" She asked with embarrassment.

"Stop trying to sell yourself. It's not worth it to make fun of me." Momonga dryly suggested.

"Eh?!" Katase looked at him as she scanned him from head to toe, looking for any signs of the old Issei emerging.

Instead, she saw a boy that was highly unamused with her attempt to test him for a reaction.

"W-What?! Impossible!" Katase shouted, stepping away from the new creature that was Issei Hyōdō. "T-There's no way that Issei Hyōdō would not be fazed by a girl!"

The girls behind Katase started to mutter to each other in a discussion of how '_Issei_' should be handled. Momonga felt like leaving considering they were talking about how they would test him one by one, starting with Murayama as she stood beside Katase and presented herself to Momonga.

"Issei, would you like to join me in the locker room?"

"No." Momonga blandly rejected, his face a stoic mask hardened by the girls' offensive plan.

"We will let you in the Girls Lockers' room from now on."

"I don't want to." Momonga decided now it was a good time to leave as he turned around and walked away, but before he could take his third step, Murayama reached out and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back to his confusion.

"No! You're not leaving until we see you for what you are!" Murayama shouted in his ear.

What the hell were they talking about? Was the notion of Issei without his excess perversion that incredulous to break their sanity and character?

"Murayama. Please, let me go," Momonga asked as politely as he could.

"Issei! I don't have a bra underneath!"

"Issei! I don't have panties!"

"I think that you're quite cute!"

"Do you want to join the Kendo Club? All you need to do is to give us a kiss!"

Their attempts to break Issei grew so absurd that Momonga wanted to get the heck out of here. They were good girls, each pretty an brimming with promising futures ahead of them. However, their current behavior was too bizarre for Momonga to swallow at this point, so the best option was to leave before the situation explodes out of hand.

Momonga tried to walk away again, only for Murayama and Katase to hold him in place by the shirt. He pulled forward again, only for the girls to pull him back with twofold the force he exerted.

"Murayama! Katase! Let me go!" Momonga was begging at this point.

This was no different than holding him hostage against his will.

"Not until you show your true colors!" Murayama demanded.

"I'm not a pervert!" Momonga shouted.

"Yes, you are, and you can't fool us!" The other girls started to join the two and grabbed his arms, pinning him in his growing panic.

"Stop! Let me go! Help!" Momonga cried for assistance as the girls held him in place.

His cries attracted the attention of some wandering students, one by one, they converged to his cries, looking at the ridiculous scene. The day continued with Momonga trying to escape the clutches of the Kendo Club, running away from the girls until he got home.


	7. Chapter 7: Brief Peace

**Yo, long time no see. ****I have finally decided to create an account. I don't know where this will take me, but I want to test myself to see if I can amp my production and quality with a bit of motivation. I am still in search of a job, but with this Coronavirus fiasco, I am not sure if one is still opening this day. Anyways, here's the segmented link and enjoy.****  
**

**www. p atreon dot com/ I4MD347H**

* * *

"You traitor."

Momonga continued planting his face on his desk, not giving the perverts the luxury of eye contact.

"What the hell is it with you these days? How the hell did you get the Kendo Girls to fawn over you?!"

'_Go away, Evil Spirits.' _Momonga prayed in his head, trying to ignore the Perverted Duo haunting him.

"You even dug your clutches into the stubborn Murayama and shy Katase!" Motohama and Matsuda loomed over the skin-wearing skeleton as he dug his face into his arms on the desk even further.

Talking with them was tiring enough. Indulging them was an invitation to disaster.

"What do you two want this time?" Momonga asked, groaning in his arms.

"Confess how the hell you captured an entire female Club for yourself," Motohama demanded.

"I haven't done anything of the sort and I never will." Momonga still recalled how tired he was after escaping the Kendo Club members and breaking through the surrounding crowd, and he was an untiring Undead.

"Hoh, really, _Lady-Killer_?" Another voice joined the conversation.

Momonga shifted, lifting his head slightly to see another girl.

She is wearing spectacles, has gold-colored eyes and lightly messy walnut-brown hair tied into braids on her right and left. From the time Momonga has been here, he learned her name as Kiryū Aika, the female counterpart of Matsuda.

She would usually come to them from time to time to tease him or the Perverted Duo, even though Momonga did not carry Issei's perversion.

"You left the Kendo Club quite embarrassed with your stunt. You're the talk of the school, you know? Huhuhuhuhuhu." Aika placed her hand to her mouth, huffing with mischief to Momonga's chagrin. "Murayama and Katase are as quiet as ghosts, you know? Look, look."

She pointed at the far left, at the two girls seated far away from Momonga's position, both of whom were bearing cheeks red as roses. They wore their regret on display, their shame palpable. Momonga could sympathize with them, but they only have themselves to blame.

"They brought it upon themselves. Is that all you're here for?" Momonga asked.

"Hmm." Aika walked to Momonga, circling him like a vulture studying its meal. She leaned forward beside his ear and whispered an outrageous message. "Do you want to know where the peephole to the girl's changing room is?"

"Is there a reason why you're trying to play devil's advocate here?" Momonga retorted instantly, looking at Aika as if she was an Imp.

"Wow, you really have lost your libido." Aika whistled as she pulled back. "What happened to your little john down there? Did you somehow break it?"

"I'll have you know that it is intact, thank you very much." Momonga couldn't believe the conjectures that were popping in her head.

"Eeeehhhh? You sure you didn't become a eunuch these days? Did your parents plan to send you to a monastery to achieve enlightenment?"

"My '_enlightenment_' is that the world is bullshit."

"Pfff!" Kiryū covered her mouth, stifling her laugh with puffed cheeks.

Others that heard his conversation around the classroom did the same; all caught off guard by '_Issei's_' humorous response.

"Kuh, huhuhuhuhu. Fine, fine, I'll leave you alone. By the way, quick question…" Kiryū's lips widened into a Cheshire smile.

"Is it true that you're gay?"

"ACK! KAF! KAF! KAF! ACAPH!" Momonga rose from his seat in a coughing fit, his breath knocked out by the absurdly unexpected question.

"What the hell is that?!" Momonga demanded.

"_Well_`, some rumors are spreading through the grapevine, you _know_~." Aika widened her smile as she pushed up her glasses.

"What? What rumors?" Momonga's right eye twitched in angst.

Who would spread slander over him right now? What the hell did he do to deserve it?

"Kuku, the rumors are quite amusing, you know? Some say that you have awakened to the wonders of BL and are in pursuit of sating your wicked desires with other boys. It's a popular trend among fujoshi, huhuhuhu. And it also explains why you didn't satiate yourself on the Kendo girls. It is the reason you didn't sic on them, right?"

"Hah?" Momonga couldn't believe his ears.

What kind of warped spiel were they spewing behind his back?

"Who the hell spread those rumors?" A vein started to pop under Momonga's skin, growing anger boiling in his gut demanding him to strangle the ones who were responsible.

Kiryū sheepishly grinned as she pointed her finger behind him. Momonga slowly creaked his head and, when he trailed her line of sight, saw two familiar faces averting their gaze, whistling with forced nonchalance. Momonga put two and two together as he lased at the two with his searing glare.

Motohama caved in first in an outburst of retort.

"Oh, come on. Yes, we did it! But how can we _not_ spread them after seeing you getting the girls?!" He pointed his finger at Momonga.

"Do you have any idea how much pain I felt when I heard Murayama offering you her panties? I was crying blood there, you magnificent bastard!" Matsuda ground his teeth as _literal_ tears of blood poured out of his eyes.

"That's your reason for painting me as a homo?!" Momonga retorted as he jumped from his seat.

Their shenanigans reminded him of his time with his guildmates, and Luci⭐fer playing pranks on him from time to time. He wasn't sure if he should sock them for their idiocy or outright strangle them.

"Hah! That's what you get for being a womanizer!"

"Oh, that's it!" Momonga was about to jump over to them and strangle them in an arm-hold, but the door of the class opened, revealing the English teacher inside.

"Take your seats, children." The teacher said.

Momonga stopped as he returned to his seat, his eyes still glaring at the smug perverts as he groused in his seat, quietly pulling his notebook out as the teacher started to dole his lecture

* * *

Today, Momonga decided to return home and relax with Asia.

He needed a break after experiencing the incident that was his undead army, his plans set back, and his mind suffering recoil from the impact; something to vent the stress he accrued so far. He scrolled through the options available to him, but the first thought that came to mind was him returning to play YGGDRASIL, which made him smile a little.

In a sense, Momonga brought YGGDRASIL with him, even though the rules were a little too loose and absurd for his hardcore-gamer soul. He shook his head, deciding to spend some time exploring Kuoh with Asia.

Now that Momonga thought about it, maybe now he should send the three fallen idiots to find a person to pawn off the treasures Momonga had in his inventory to trade in enough yen to afford Asia's enrollment into Kuoh.

Despite Kuoh being a hotbed of Devils as he discovered, Asia should be fine since her affiliation with the Church was annulled. Besides, Momonga would nuke the school if they ever dared harm her, and he had resurrection magic to boot. He could not think of any other school so far, but through his experience, he was fine in the school, and the humans enrolled in Kuoh were alright.

Also, he should help Asia train in some spells of her own since she somehow became a Player. How or why she became a Player, Momonga did not know, but he had a suspicion it had something to do with the party invitation system at the very least.

After packing up his stuff from his locker, Momonga had his mind swirl with wandering thoughts about his current life.

Around a month had passed since he lived wearing the face of Issei Hyōdō.

In this interim, Momonga studied and trained to battle both everyday life and the supernatural. Enemies stalked this town in the shadows, unknown dangers threatening to emerge, and questions that continued to accumulate with each discovery he made on this world. A few of the students in this school he discovered were not human when he used **[Mana Essence]** and **[Life Essence]**. They walked and behaved like human students, making him wonder if they were accustomed to the human lifestyle or acting behind a flawless facade.

Remembering the three idiots' description of the Devils, the Clan of Devils governing this city was the Gremory Clan, one of whose being the Devil King, bearing the title of Lucifer.

Momonga wasn't sure if a Gremory Clan Devil attended this school since he focused all of his efforts on conquering his academic obstacles. He should search for anyone with the Gremory name tomorrow after class so he could avoid them at all costs. Momonga wasn't equipped to deal with an entire Faction as his current condition, especially after the setback to his Undead Army project.

His '_daughters_' drained his mental fortitude every time he saw them, constantly wincing whenever they called him '_father_'. It was too late to eliminate them since it would only serve to damage his conscience.

As Momonga walked towards the exit, he slowed to a stop upon sensing something off in the air. He felt as if something was watching him behind his back or something, but he could not tell. He darted his gaze left and right, unsure where to look.

'_Was it my imagination?'_ Momonga scratched his head for a moment. He was more sensitive to his surroundings after obtaining the Dragon Levels. His nose and ears became sharper, his eyes keener, and awareness of his surroundings stronger than before.

Adjusting to his heightened sensitivity to the world was a nuisance, though not hard for him to acclimate. His vision was crisper, able to spot objects and details far away. His smell could detect the scent of blood many meters ahead, and his ability to sense magic was in development since he had no training or experience in this department, which was why he relied on his YGGDRASIL spells.

He shrugged after a moment before leaving the school, missing the lock of white hair peeking behind a locker.

After returning home, Momonga unloaded his school supplies and headed downstairs to his underground dungeon, his mien contorting with phantom agony as he entered the metal halls and spotted his corrupted forces.

"Greetings, Father."

"Daddy."

He died a little inside as the Death Knights he stationed here saluted him when he entered.

"... _Hah_." He tried to break into a smile, but he failed.

These things were a different breed compared to before.

Full metal armor of black waving plates hugged the feminine figure inside, crimson veins traveling across her skin from her piercing blood-colored eyes. Its hands, however, defied the theme's fragile-looking dame, large claws holding a flamberge in one hand and the other black pavise merging with the metal-clawed gauntlet, acting more like an arm-guard instead.

Their sizes somewhat shrunk compared to their masculine counterparts, which made Momonga wonder if their performances decreased or not. He wasn't sure if he wanted to find out as it pained him even to command these girls.

Moving past them, Momonga headed towards Asia. He could see her location from the map located around the top right of his vision after she somehow became a Player of YGGDRASIL through random luck. Winding through the small maze of metal corridors, he stopped before one room, peering at Asia as she casted Divine Spells onto Raynare in her battle against a corrupted Death Knight riding a Soul Eater.

The Soul Eater was also altered into some a Centaur that was armed with a scythe and wore a purple hooded robe. Her demeanor was far more docile than most would think upon seeing her kind at first glance. However, in this case, the Soul Eater was vicious, swiping its bone scythe it got from who knew where at the Fallen Angel with palpable blood lust.

"By God's name, why won't it die?!" He heard Raynare curse as she, Mittelt, and Kalawarner threw Spears of Light at the female Death Knight.

Only for her to knock the spears aside with her flamberge before the Soul Eater charged at them. The Soul Eater gave out a snarl as her hooves banged the metal floor in her sprint, leaping up and swinging her scythe in an attempt to cut off a chunk out of Mittelt.

**[Lesser Dexterity]**

Asia cast a Buff on the Fallen.

A rush of Holy Energy surged within the lolita, prompting her to dodge the deadly weapon that almost made her a whole fourth less of a Fallen that she was. But she could not evade the second swing of the blade as it nipped her leg, biting blood from her wound.

"Agh!?" Mittelt yelped as she fluttered away, backing to Asia as the rider and steed landed.

"Damn it, girl! Heal me!" She demanded as she fluttered towards Asia, presenting her cut leg to her.

"A-Alright." Asia nodded as she cast **[Cure Wounds]**, using her Spell instead of Twilight Healing.

Mittelt stopped hissing upon feeling the wound closing, her complexion transitioning from one of irritation to one of confusion.

"Huh? It's… warm…" Mittelt said as she stared at Asia, the radiance slowly entrancing the small fallen. "It feels just… just like home…"

The two other Fallen looked at the light, their expressions softening upon sensing the Divine Magic as if they felt a reSōnance with their kindred element despite it being from another universe. Kalawarner and Raynare landed beside Mittelt to get a closer look at the Magic working on the wound, inspecting it up close faster than normal with enchanted curiosity. The two stared at the Light with a strange longing in their eyes.

"I can feel the All Father's Light," Raynare uttered.

"It's like… I'm feeling the Light of Heaven from the shine." Kalawarner added.

Today was Asia's first involvement in his training regimen.

Her ability to cast Divine Magic was strong already, probably from her experience with Twilight Healing. The idiot trio was fawning over a Low-Tier Healing Spell for some reason, though.

The Death Knight and Soul Eater duo clopped towards Momonga, and both curtly bowed before him out of reverence

"Greetings, Father." The word '_Father_' made him feel like an old man every time it reached his ear.

"Father."

'_Stop calling me 'father.' I beg you._' Momonga mentally pleaded.

"Ah! I-Issei! Welcome back!" Asia called out upon seeing him, flashing her usual smile.

Momonga waved back at her with a smile of his own, before it fell flat upon seeing the three idiots.

The three idiots flinched from receiving his apathy, all of them smiling awkwardly not to arouse his anger. Despite all this time, Momonga's opinion of them was still at an all-time low, even though his tolerance was steadily growing.

"I'm here to check up on you. How was your first taste of combat experience?" Momonga asked.

He looked at Asia, remembering her decision to choose the support role. Momonga considered raising her as a Cleric, but after witnessing her evident reluctance to combat others directly, he changed his mind. Asia's purity made her more suitable as a Healer than a vanguard anyways. Therefore, Momonga assigned her as a defender and support magic caster instead. That and Momonga could not bear to pressure such a pure girl into following his first design.

"M-Mmm. I-It's scary, but I think I can manage." Asia replied.

His second design for her was a Summoner Support Class, a Divine Variant of his Build, only that she could Heal others and herself while conjuring Angels to compensate for her lack of personal fighting power.

Although, there were a few questions this new System aroused.

For example, why was there even a Human Racial Class in the first place? That was something Momonga could never understand. Humans had no Racial Levels, only Job Levels, and for a good reason, if they follow the lore of humanity. Not only that, but she also had a Saint Racial Class!

Why was that a Racial Level? That should be a Job Class! It just made no sense! If being a Saint was Genetic, then what's the point of freedom of choice? The hopes and dreams of those trying to reach the boundary reserved for the most talented?

Although, Momonga could not deny that Asia's purity was more than just… a trait born from effort. Maybe genetics did play a role in becoming a Saint. He doubted that he could find another girl just as pure as Asia anywhere else in this world, anyways. He wondered how she would grow up as an adult. Would she find love in someone?

Momonga would indefinitely support her choice if the person held no ill-will and was capable of supporting her. If it were just another punk, Momonga would screw with his memories and drain his soul dry, depending on the vileness of his heart. Returning to the subject, Momonga could remark that the Skills and Spells she acquired were identical to the ones from YGGDRASIL, those from the Priest Class at least.

The only difference here was that one could gain experience in their Job Levels from practice alone. That wasn't possible in YGGDRASIL. All of the Players must burn their free time grinding through hundreds upon hundreds of mobs, with some Players mixed in their long kill lists, and that didn't include the weeks of trials and errors to find their dream build or the times they inevitably die by either PK`ers or other causes.

YGGDRASIL was, by no means, a game for casuals. All Players must either adopt a hardcore mindset or die a hundred deaths. Momonga still remembered that time where he and the original nine members of Nine Ooals Gown, minus Touch Me, killed by the hands of High-Level Goblins since their Divination Spells failed to detect the quicksand under their feet.

Not only that… there were other abusable loopholes in the System that the Developers would neuter with all their hatred. The ability to steal Racial Levels from others… or should Momonga call it Souls?

So absorbing Souls counted as absorbing the Levels of others or converting the Souls into Levels of the Race he drained. While he welcomed the Abilities that arrived with the Devil Races, he detested the additional vulnerabilities against the Holy Element alongside the gender-bending Skill.

He frowned much at the additional vulnerabilities, even though his **[Magic Ward: Holy]** could be sustained for… eternity if Momonga chooses. Still, he must assess the damage and cross his fingers that the Holy Element Damage modifiers did not multiply each other.

As for the other Skills, he wasn't sure how he should intake them. One of which was the power to create spells through imagination, **[Spellcraft]**, slapped his self-esteem as a magic caster hard. No matter what he did, he just couldn't replicate almost all his Tier Spells with this Skill.

**[Spellcraft]**, by definition, was to allow the user to conjure any form of Spell under the user's imagination alone. Momonga was sure that his creative mind was visual enough to replicate the more advanced Spells in his arsenal, yet he failed to throw out this world's equivalent of a **[Reality Slash]**. He only threw out some kind of Magic Blade, instead.

The other ones he could replicate was an imitation of Magic Arrow and Magic Missile, and raw Magic Power condensed into compression. From his failures, he understood that he was missing a step in the formula, although he might have some trouble acquiring a proper tutor in the Devil Arts since he could not imagine a Devil wanting to aid him yet.

"Um, by the way! M-Master, m-may I speak my mind?" Mittelt raised her hand after Asia finished healing her leg.

"You may." Momonga allowed the third of the idiot trio her freedom to voice.

"Would you… let us stretch our wings now and then?" Mittelt asked sheepishly. "I mean, let us outside this pretty Sex Dungeon you have going on."

"Pfffft!" Momonga nearly hacked his lungs out upon hearing the term.

He quickly composed himself as his **[Emotion Suppression]** kicked in as he responded.

"Okay, firstly, this is _not_ a sex dungeon." Momonga strongly warned Mittelt as he glared at her. "Secondly, outline your intent on stretching your wings. Are you requesting permission to grant you access to leave your prison freely?"

The three idiots grouped, looking at him with some form of expectation in their eyes.

"Um, y-yes. W-Would you let us out every time?" Raynare asked this time.

Why would he of all people heed this girl's request? One, this screamed potential betrayal no matter from which angle he could see. Two, their loyalties still have yet to be confirmed. The three went out of their way to murder Issei in cold blood, leaving him heartbroken and bleeding all alone.

"You are actually asking permission to leave your prison? From where did you get the notion that I would even consider your privileges? You do realize you three are my prisoners, correct? And for a good reason." Momonga asked with great sarcasm as he threw a glance at the brunette responsible for the said deed.

Said brunette slowly veered her eyes away from his accusing stare as Mittelt burst into the conversation.

"Oh, come on, Master! We've been stuck here without any taste of fresh air for days! We don't want to be NEETs or lose touch with our wings! We want to fly out and get some fresh air out of this gays-I mean, amazing dungeon," Mittelt whined.

'_Was she always like this?'_ Momonga didn't take Mittelt for being immature, how her maturity reflected her small stature.

"Hmmmm..." Momonga hummed in thought. It seemed the days of inactivity were triggering them with excess restlessness. Momonga could relate with that feeling, cooped up against their will with the ringing silence gnawing their patience to the bone, the isolation, and the solitude it brought. Even so…

"Three idiots."

"Stop calling us that!" Mittelt protested.

"How do you intend to spend your time on the surface when given the chance?"

The three idiots paused as they looked at Momonga with confusion.

"Well, we… hope to have something to do other than lounge around all day. The boredom is torture." Kalawarner pleaded.

"We promise to be good! Please, we really do!" Mittelt nodded.

They were acting like children begging a parent for playtime more than rejected angels.

Even so, Momonga still didn't trust them. They could leak his information to the Fallen Angel faction, and he did not want that. Momonga yet hadn't tested if his Wish Spell could kill them regardless of distance. There was also a chance of his Magic getting traced like his **[Discern Enemy]** Skill, which he refused to use since the opponents, those with great senses, could detect the spell appraising them.

However, they didn't know about his Magic, so…

"Your needs aside, my trust in you has not changed one bit. Why _should_ I let the three fools infected with racism out in the open?" Momonga asked.

The three huddled together, whispering amongst themselves. Momonga could hear some of their words like '_should we seduce him_' or '_let's use Asia.'_ Momonga wasn't sure if they were planning an elaborate scheme to flee from their contract or something.

"Um, you can use our bodies as you wish?" Mittelt suggested.

Momonga's left eye twitched on reflex.

"What?" Momonga uttered threateningly.

"M-My Lord, we were asking how we could earn your trust to leave without your worry? We were wondering for a while if we are… worthy of some privileges after our time under you." Kalawarner interjected.

'_Ahhh.'_ Momonga was starting to understand where they're heading with this, ignoring Mittelt's nonsense. He might be able to capitalize on this development, but the matter with trust must come first. He must ensure that they would never betray him… maybe he could give them a test?

'_If they die while trying something stupid, it's on them,'_ Momonga mused as he cleared his throat.

"I might consider that. However, I still believe neither of you three should be allowed to leave without… precautions." Momonga raised his hand.

"W-What do you mean?" Raynare gulped as the ambiance around Momonga darkened.

Many Magical Circles enveloped Momonga, one in front of his hand and many more surrounding him. The three idiots gasped as Momonga casted the Spell as it enveloped them in arcane white. The three blinked as they patted their bodies for a moment, trying to feel anything different about themselves.

"Now, you three are free to leave the dungeon and '_stretch your wings.' _Don't let my parents catch any of you three leaving this dungeon, though," Momonga smiled as he lowered his arm.

The three did not seem comforted by his smile. Good.

"W-What did you do to us?!" Mittelt shouted as she patted her body with growing panic.

"I simply cast a Spell. Or, more accurately, my contingency," Momonga explained.

"C-Contingency? What contingency?" Kalawarner took a step back, afraid of his implications.

"Something to keep you from betraying me. A safeguard I placed on you with dire consequences for your health."

"_Eh?!_" The three idiots looked at themselves, fear gushing out as they asked

"W-What will happen if we don't behave?" Mittelt asked, hear face quivering in fear.

"If you breach our sanctum of trust, you will die. Instantly. Without pain nor warning. Like that Freed guy."

'_Although I am not exactly sure if it will work…'_ Momonga never tried this before with a Wish Spell, so he had no way of knowing if it would actually kill them when they leak his secrets to their former Boss, but the fear that would keep them in line did assure him to some extent.

Assuming they don't receive a sudden burst of courage or something.

The three idiots paled as Momonga turned his attention to Asia, paying them no mind with confidence - a mask of confidence. He must act the part to make sure that they would take the bait as he turned his attention to Asia.

"Asia. Do you want to explore Kuoh with me?" Momonga asked kindly, extending a hand with a smile.

Seeing Asia's kind smile always soothed his soul. He decided to treat her to some ice cream and other treats when he could. He should ask the parents for some money as he ignored the wailing idiots in the background.

"Y-Yes, I would love to," Asia replied as he took his hand.

"Wait, are you joking when you say we'll die if we mess up? W-What if we do something wrong by accident? Or if someone eavesdropped on us or something?" Mittelt asked insistently.

'_No idea, but if any of you actually died from that, I don't care.'_ Momonga replied in his head as he tuned them out, deciding that his silence was the best motivator.

"P-Please tell us, Issei!" Mittelt shouted as Momonga left the room with Asia in tow, the latter turning around and giving the three Fallen Angels an apologetic smile as they left the room.

* * *

"I am at a loss, Sōna. My quarry just won't bite the hook I've set out, Sōna." In her Victorian office, Rias sat across from her friend, a chessboard on the table between them.

Across her was Sōna Sitri, the youngest heir to the Sitri Household of the Underworld. She was a young, bespectacled woman, her figure slim, and her hair colored black and styled in a short bob cut. Her violet eyes gazed at the chessboard in thought, planning her next move against the Gremory Heir.

"Your problem is that you lack assertiveness, Rias. Instead of baiting him into action, shouldn't you confront your target and offer them the invitation?" Sōna asked as he moved the knight forward.

"I believe the indirect approach is more suitable in recruiting humans, especially those unaware of the paranormal." Rias respectfully argued as she moved back her king. "My plan was, no, _is _foolproof. From what I learned so far, the one that caught my eye has a very infamous reputation in school as… a connoisseur of the female body. How he refused to accept the invitation after stating the rewards escapes me."

Sōna recalled her pamphlet. She had a lot of comments to say when she saw it, the mere sight was enough to make her wince. The design was painful, the thought into it naive, and… there wasn't enough time in the day for Sōna to even finish speaking her mind if she spilled it right here and now.

"I have glimpsed your pamphlet, and I am afraid to say that it is more like a blatant way of painting yourself in shade. The suspicious kind if he has the eyes to see it." Sōna gently rebuked as she moved her Queen next.

Rias did not respond, merely pouting a little at Sōna's choice of words as she moved her king.

"I don't think what I did is incorrect, if that is your insinuation." Sōna simply shook her head as she moved her pawn next and took Rias' Knight.

"If that is what you believe, then so be it. Although the source of your confidence does elude me somewhat."

"But you do not understand. The success of this plan was supposed to be guaranteed." Rias didn't budge her stance one bit like a stubborn mountain.

Sōna wasn't sure whether this side of her was endearing or foolish. Rias had a preference to follow the path she set herself without anyone giving her a sign of direction. Sōna understood that while it was naive, it was also one of her strongest charms as the King of her Peerage, attracting her to obtain a collage of strong and unique individuals.

"Sōna, I can tell from your face that you believe I am speaking without evidence. Recently, from my investigations, I learned that Issei-san might have undergone… a change in behavior."

"Hmmm, and how does that factor in your miscalculation, Rias?" Sōna inquired.

"There was… rumors that Issei ran away from the Kendo Club members. Along with rumors that his perversion has… dissipated for some reason, despite him being one of the Perverted Trio." Sōna was not sure how to respond to the somewhat downtrodden Rias.

One of the infamous perverts losing his lustful desire?

"Doesn't that mean his parents somehow rehabilitated him?" Sōna asked.

"Is it possible for someone to change that swiftly in a short course of time?" Rias asked as she moved her Bishop. "Check."

Returning her focus to the game, Sōna moved her Rook.

"Checkmate." And she caught Rias in a perfect reversal, catching Rias in her bait and her king piece in an inescapable trap.

Rias simply closed her eyes as she took a deep breath, calming herself as she smiled at Sōna.

"Excellent match, Sōna."

"Likewise, Rias."

Sōna rose from her seat, pushing her glasses up in place. She wondered what was so special about the one that caught Rias' attention. There were many more like him in Kuoh Academy, so there must be a Sacred Gear within this one. Sōna considered whether or not she should take this one for her peerage, but considering Rias' circumstance in the political world, Rias needed the help more than her.

Not only that, but Rias' Peerage was also still incomplete, missing another Knight and Bishop while Riser Phenix had every Piece at his disposal. Suffice to say, from a practical standpoint, Rias' chances of victory were near nil considering Riser's high regeneration power and his experience in the Rating Games. One more individual making a difference would be nothing more than a miracle, and Rias did not have that much time left.

"Do you need any assistance for this one?" Sōna asked, sighing as she relented to Rias' whims.

Rias was nearly hopeless without assistance, no matter her age, she supposed.

"Hmmm, I would lie if I say that I didn't." Rias smiled as she rose as well.

Sōna wondered if she could still see Rias like this, free and strong, ready to stand against the world. If not, Rias would live like a bird in a cage for the rest of her life, forever catering to the needs of a noble she did not love.

"Allow me to investigate your dilemma my way. I will see if I can give you the change you need to obtain another piece for your game." Sōna brushed her hair back with a gentle caress.

* * *

**Well, thoughts so far? Sorry for the long wait, was doing other stories and working on an original story. Finally came to common grounds with Zaralann on some ideas, so I am feeling more invigorated to continue the story without regret. Anyways, I hope you all are doing all right out there. Stay safe in these unreasonable times and stay healthy!**


	8. Chapter 8: One of the Two

**Behold. Yes, here is another :D**

* * *

"Issei, don't you think… you're a bit too hard on Lady Raynare and the others?" Asia asked as Momonga bought Asia ice cream, handing her a cone of vanilla in hand as he kept the chocolate one for himself.

They were in the shopping district of Kuoh, back in the same area where Momonga encountered Diodora.

"If you want my honest opinion, I would say that they deserve even worse," Momonga admitted. "Actually, now that I thought about it, I have barely harmed a feather. Sure, I've threatened them, but I haven't harmed them physically… _yet_."

That excluded his Undead that engaged them earlier in the training room.

They were guilty on account of treachery, two attempted murders, and, worse of all, pure stupidity. Momonga had all rights to punish them, to conduct all kinds of cruel experiments on their sorry beings. Momonga would've chopped their limbs off and healed them over and over again if he could, throwing potions at them to see if their limbs regrow, to see how their limbs regrow and inspect the kinks behind the mechanisms if he hadn't met Asia.

"B-But… I think you have punished them enough." Asia shook her head as she started licking her ice cream. "As the Lord above states in his teachings, everyone deserves to be forgiven. I think they have suffered enough under the eyes of the Lord."

She lightly casted her usual radiant smile.

'_Oh my god, she's too pure.'_ Momonga grimaced as when she shone her holy radiance.

At this rate, Momonga might be purified by her Holy Attack until his mental HP hits zero. There was no way for Momonga to have immunity against this kind of purity.

"I'm… hmm. I don't know. I am not the kind of person that forgives such serious crimes. Didn't the lord state something about punishing criminals until they repent in full or something?" Momonga asked as they walked out of the ice-cream shop.

Momonga did nothing to them besides forceful confinement until today. He fed them, gave them a room and bed, and he didn't mistreat them in any way.

"I don't think The Lord is as cruel as you think, Issei. I believe… that if you give them a chance, you might find it in yourself to forgive them."

Forgive them? Momonga wasn't exactly sure if they were truly ready for his forgiveness yet.

Considering their poor and faulty intelligence, Momonga was more concerned if they would try something as equally dumb as murdering Issei without attempting to recruit him, like hurrying to Azazel and report everything before he finds out and kills them.

He recalled a saying from Punitto Moe on this. It should be something like 'what master fears is not another master, but the idiot since he has no idea what the idiot will do' or something like that.

"Well…" However, Momonga did need to start building a trusting relationship with them at some point. If they manage to survive for seven days without dying, then he would consider revoking their status as prisoners. "I will consider that. Assuming they didn't try anything stupid or something. I don't know what to do if they did croak from escaping to their former boss."

Momonga chuckled as he imagined them trying to contact Azazel via a message-like Spell, only to die before uttering the first word. It was very possible and likely. He would at least find some humor in that, at the very least. Asia giggled a little from his attempt at humor.

"What is the Spell you used on them anyways?" Asia asked, curious to know about Momonga's magic. "Will… it really…"

Asia hesitated as if the very word '_kill_' made her uncomfortable.

Momonga sighed as he rubbed the back of his head. Really, to feel so concerned with the idiot trio despite them treating her like a sacrificial lamb was a strength Momonga could not attain. To him, it was galling even to consider forgiveness for people like them. Still, if Asia would forgive them, Momonga would make the three idiots prove themselves worthy of her forgiveness.

"Well, frankly, I have no idea if it will work. It is a potent Spell, one which I would usually use only as a last resort. Right now, I am leaving their fates to God's whim," Momonga shrugged.

The context of the Momonga's contingency Wish was '_if any of the three betray his trust and/or willingly strive to endanger his well-being in any way, may they all terminate via Death.'_ Momonga had no idea if the Spell would trigger from mere deliberation or a stray thought. Thus, Momonga handed their fates to God for now. If the Spell did not work his way, if there was a loophole they could exploit but not discover, then at least their fear of him would keep them in check for the time being.

"O-Oh. I-Is it like a Curse?" Asia asked.

"What? Well, not exactly. I can cast Curses, but they cannot be used as a contingency." Momonga replied. "Technically, I made the Spell function like a Curse. I just don't know any other conventional Spell that could act as a safeguard."

Now that Momonga thought about it, he didn't tell her much about how his Spells worked. Not even he knew how he could cast Tier Magic Spells in learned details. He acquired those Spells via the game mechanics in YGGDRASIL, the same way Asia learned them when he introduced her to the System in general.

"O-Oh. I-I see. Um, your Magics are… very interesting." Asia looked intrigued by the YGGDRASIL Magics at work.

Maybe Momonga should give her a full course on it later on when he had the time. Talking about the Magic in detail outside in public would paint a very unwanted picture of him if others eavesdrop on their conversation. Momonga hummed as he rubbed his chin in thought. He wondered if he should tell her… He should give her an Item that protects her against mental attacks if he could. He took a large lick of his chocolate ice cream first, letting the sweet choco cream melt on his tongue for a moment as he looked down at his shadow.

"Well, I know a lot of Spells. I don't know its effectiveness compared to the Magic here, but I have an idea some Spells will be hard to mimic." Momonga informed her.

As he took another lick, Momonga stopped as he perked his head, sensing something off behind them. He turned around to find the source, finding only groups of standing and walking civilians, either chatting or loitering around to pass the time. He scratched his head for a moment, wondering if it was just his imagination playing tricks on him or his augmented senses triggering from some hostile presence.

What he didn't know was that he missed the sight of a white hair poking out from behind a wall around one corner, or the two other girls hiding amongst the crowd with their backs facing Momonga, both hoping that he didn't recognize them.

Momonga blinked as he turned his attention back to Asia, deciding to ponder on that matter later.

"Well, I will tell you more about it when we get back. But for now, is there anywhere you want to visit? We still haven't gotten you new clothes now that I think about it after that fiasco with that one Devil…" Momonga rubbed his head sheepishly.

* * *

"Are you seeing this?" Murayama asked as she peeked around the corner, spotting Issei walking with… a girl! A very cute girl in fact!

Katase extensively nodded as they stared at the Pervert and the potential victim.

When they were out shopping for new clothes, Murayama and Katase caught the sight of Issei by chance. They nearly gave their position away when they saw Issei of all people walking in the shopping district with a girl in tow, something they never thought was possible in their lives considering it was… Issei!

By now, they were stalking him with criticizing eyes, Katase crouching below Murayama with their eyes heavily glued onto Issei and the unknown girl who was licking her vanilla ice cream cone. They have a sneaking suspicion that the girl was the reason why Issei lost his libido. The only explanation they had was that… They were sure of it. They must expose Issei for being not only a pervert but also a potential lolicon.

And a rapist in general.

They must protect the girl from Issei at all costs and obtain proof of his true, insidious nature. However, Issei's senses seemed to be a bit too sharp for their liking. He had almost caught them a few times, but they managed to hide within the crowd or in the occasional alleyway by now.

Not only that, they could barely hear their conversation, but the words like '_Magic_' and '_Devils_' did slip through the gaps. Were they talking about a Roleplaying Game or something? They did take him as an Anime geek, but they didn't think he would be this engrossed, and to think the girl was one as well. She didn't look the part, though.

As they followed the two, they saw Issei leading her into a clothing store. Was he taking her out to shop for her sake?

That was unexpectedly gentleman-like of him to take a girl out and spend money for her; they didn't expect that. While they wanted to get in and spy on them some more, Murayama and Katase did not want Issei to catch them red-handed. Issei was way too aware of their liking, so the best they could do was peek through the big see-through window.

When they emerged from the shop after a long while, Issei and the blonde girl were holding bags of clothes in their hands, the latter smiling happily, her beam like a glittering gem. Where did Issei find someone like her, they thought? But they were out in the open with little people around them, they realized. Murayama and Katase were so engrossed in their curiosity, they pushed themselves in the wide open.

"Murayama, what should we do?!" Katase whispered as she frantically shot her head back and forth between Issei and Murayama in panic.

"Um, a-act natural!" Murayama whisper-shouted back as she looked around the street, looking as natural as possible.

"E-Eh?!" Katase did not know how to look natural right now. Besides, it was already too late.

"Murayama? Katase?" Issei just called out to them.

Murayama and Katase flinched.

"Oh, um, hey, Issei. Uhhh… how are you doing?" Murayama replied with an incredibly fake response.

Katase sheepishly waved her hand at him with an awkward giggle, hoping that he didn't notice that they were tailing him.

"What are you two doing here? You're here for clothes, too?" Issei asked as he bit the last waffly piece of his ice cream cone in one crunch, chewing as he calmly awaited their response.

They quickly jumped at this lifeline Issei provided them.

"Ahahaha, y-yeah. Katase and I wanted to try out new clothes. Heard there's… new dresses in this shop we want to try out!"

Issei blinked as the blonde girl tugged on his sleeve.

"U-Um, I-Issei, d-do you know them?" She asked.

Murayama and Katase nearly felt their hearts melt at her voice. She sounded just as sweet as she looked now that they properly listened. There was no way Issei found something this precious under their noses.

"Oh, these are my classmates, members of the Kendo Club. The one with brown hair is Murayama, and the other is Katase. Although it is my first time meeting them outside of class." Issei mused as he tapped his chin with slight suspicion. "Usually, they would stay away from me at all costs."

Murayama and Katase nearly swallowed the phantom lumps in their throats. He wasn't wrong in this case, but there was no way they would leave a girl this sweet under Issei's care.

"Ahaha, Issei, care to… introduce your friend to us?" Murayama asked as Katase nodded fervently.

Issei looked at Asia for a moment as he widened his eyes a little before they softened. His reaction made the girls freeze on the spot. Did he learn of their tailing him?

Issei simply stared at them for a while as he pursed his lips.

"Well, it is… a long story. But I don't suppose it will hurt." Issei gestured to the girl. "Murayama, Katase. My friend here is Asia Argento. She is… a wandering nun of sorts, but she was kicked out… I found her in the streets by accident. I couldn't leave her in the streets because of it, so I left her under my care for the time being."

The Kendo Duo could not believe their ears as they stared at Asia stupefied.

"_Eh…? Ehhhh?!_" Their jaws nearly fell on the floor as they processed what Hyōdō just said.

That guy has a girl living under his roof, and that girl was somewhat attached to him. They refused to accept this. Issei must be taking advantage of such a holy maiden he had found.

"Why are you looking at me with those eyes?" Issei asked as he stepped back a little.

"Issei, where do you live?" Katase asked as her expression turned serious.

"What? What do you-"

"Asia, how is Issei treating you?" Murayama interrupted Issei as she smiled sweetly at Asia.

"U-Um…" Asia hesitantly stammered as she poked her fingers together. That was not a good sign for them as their eyes slowly narrowed. "H-He is always nice to me… um… his parents are nice, too. They've been taking good care of me since… um…"

Why must she sound so honest when saying it? If she told them like that without showing signs of abuse, they would almost look at Issei in a different light. But they refuse to let it go just yet. They must confirm Asia's story with their own eyes.

* * *

**Momonga was concerned. **

The girls from the Kendo Club were following him back home, and he had no way of convincing them to go away. Murayama was lasing at his nape with an intense stare while Katase was giving a painful glare as if she was staring at a pervert. He wanted to tell them to go home, and he couldn't bring himself to wipe their memories in public despite the pressure.

So he planned to bring them in his home, have the three idiots mindwipe them, and then drop them somewhere in Kuoh… Wait, he had no idea where their homes were. Now Momonga was even more concerned. He hoped that Asia wouldn't mind him wiping their memories after ambushing them in his home. He really didn't wish to deal with the guilt of performing something so unsightly in front of her.

"So…" Momonga wasn't sure how to start a conversation with these girls. It was very awkward, and they seem still to hate him to the bone, his Undead bones. Their terms weren't very amicable due to Issei's blunders in school. "What is the Kendo Club like?"

Momonga had no idea what to talk about, so he spoke the first thing that came to his mind, which was his curiosity for the club they attend.

"What do you think? Thanks to your pervert friends, we can't change in peace without worrying about peeping toms and hidden cameras." Murayama glowered, placing her hands on her hips;

Momonga kind of expected that sort of response.

"Ahaha… well, I can't say I apologize on their behalf… or that I will." Momonga just wished they would stop bashing his reputation from time to time.

The awkward silence returned once more. Momonga wished this kind of oppressive atmosphere would dispel already; it was grinding his nerves!

"Is there a reason why you want to come to my home?" Momonga wondered how Issei's mother and father would react to him bringing in more girls.

"To make sure you're not doing anything funny to Asia," Murayama retorted.

"Or that you're making her do lewd things," Katase followed.

'_Stop. Please. I'm not that kind of person.'_ Momonga felt like crying on the inside. Their words hurt worse than Touch Me's **[World Break]**. Looking to his right, he saw Asia giving him an apologetic smile and an awkward chuckle, sympathizing with his suffering.

"But… I'm not. I'm really not." His intentions were pure, they really were.

"I don't believe you," Murayama rejected.

"You must be preparing her for something sinister and perverted!" Katase nodded in agreement.

They were as stubborn as Yamaiko in a sense… no, more like Bukubuku Chagama to Pererocino in finding his top-secret ero-stash or something like that. Just what would it take to get them off his back and convince them of his innocence?

As he mulled over his dilemma, he and the others heard a voice calling out from behind them.

"Anomaly." The voice was soft and feminine.

Despite hearing the disarming tone, Momonga froze in his steps, however, when the voice reached his ears.

He could feel his instincts cry out to him as a dreadful feeling, a creeping doom, crawled over his mind. It wasn't something he felt before in his life, but he could tell that it was his dragon instincts screaming at him, a primal shriek that wails in the presence of a mighty being, something far above his current level.

There was no fanfare, no warning, and not even a sound as Momonga suddenly felt as if the weight of the whole World was placed upon his shoulders. He need not turn around to know the danger behind him, and there were civilians around him. There was no time for deliberation.

**[Gate]**

Consequences hold no meaning to the dead, so Momonga, with one arm, quickly opened a portal to his secret bunker. Then, with sudden rudeness he would later apologize for, he unceremoniously grabbed the shoulders of the kendo girls and threw into the open maw of the gateway.

"Wha?!"

"I-Issei?!

They screamed as they vanished in the void of the **[Gate]**.

"Asia, no time to explain! Jump in!" Momonga, panicked, shouted.

Asia, surprised by his sudden shift of behavior, quickly followed the girls inside the **[Gate]** without question as the **[Gate]** closed behind her, understanding the situation the moment she saw the portal Momonga showed her before. Momonga taught her well to flee on the sight of the **[Gate]**, drilling in her protocols and countermeasures against any case of PK-like situations.

Apologizing to them in his head, Momonga closed his eyes for a second to prepare his spells, cycling through his preplanned Spells at his disposal in case a foe did find him. Albeit, he did not expect that the assailant to possess a presence that could almost grind mountains to powder.

Dozens of Spells, alongside an even greater number of Skills, each and everyone on the tip of his fingers as he whirled around… and almost stumbled when he saw the owner of the presence.

"... What?" His brain-to-mouth filter had stopped working for a moment upon gazing at the absurd picture before him.

Standing on the sidewalk underneath the late afternoon sun, a pair of grey eyes linked to his, from a tiny figure that could be mistaken for a little girl, if not for the number of chills racing down his spine, that stood before him. Long straight black hair cascading down her back and a long gothic-lolita dress that was seemingly missing its front in black and purple colors, all of which Momonga was sure Peroronchino would've approved. She wore a pair of white pumpkin-panties, and seemingly strips of duct tape crossed over her nipples, which set off very strong alarm bells in Momonga's head.

'_I think I'm entitled to some prison time as a convicted pedophile if I continue looking at this.'_

A random thought ran through his head as he reflexively made sure to not lower his gaze below her jawline, else penitentiary and shame await him.

"...What are you?" Her voice was monotonous, little to no emotion attached to her words, but not without some strange weight to it.

"... A person?" Momonga blinked, confused.

The girl blinked slowly and tilted her head to the side slightly in a criminally adorable fashion. It was almost cute if not for the air seemingly warping and twisting from her sheer presence.

It was the sheer luck of the draw that he used **[False Data: Life]** and **[False Data: Mana]** on himself as a part of his morning rituals every day now. He had no clue who she was, why she was here, or how the hell did someone like her manage to find him despite his meticulousness, but he didn't want her to know anything about him. Not only that, but he was also lucky that no eyewitnesses were present to see his **[Gate]**, even though he had the Three Idiots to help wipe their memories.

A pregnant pause intervened, almost visible, as he could practically see a question mark floating about the unknown girl's head before it straightened into an exclamation mark with a screeching sound of rusted metal being bent. Her head once more regaining its straightened position, and then her tiny and obviously and deceptively gentle-looking hand rose and pointed at him.

"Dragon..." Her voice was still flat, but he could almost feel the accusation being thrown at him. "Devil… Unknown…"

His heart nearly jumped out of his chest as she flawlessly listed his three main Racial Sets, even if she substituted '_Undead_' with an '_Unknown_' for some reason.

"Ah…" Like a toppled tower of cards, Momonga's composure fell into an internalized screaming panic. "Maybe a little bit?"

Further denial was moot, also probably suicidal considering his very soul, from guts to his instincts, screamed at Momonga the amount of danger compacted in the girl's little form. How he could come out alive in this scenario should she turn hostile, Momonga had nary a single clue.

"Unknown." She gave a slight nod as if in confirmation. "What are you?"

Time to pull out his eloquent tongue.

"That… exposition would take quite a lot of your while. But, long story short, you can describe me as one of those that are dead but still not dead." He was buying himself time. He must figure out a way to avoid any confrontation with this girl and a solution to conceal himself from her. "I apologize for my poor exposition, but think of it as something on the borders of… the '_Realm Beyond Life_' for now."

As a former salaryman, he would've chastised himself for tying his tongue in a knot, but his life was on the line, so he had no room to counter this appropriately. Momonga knew that his bullshit wouldn't buy enough time to find his solution, his escape. The truth was indefinitely out of the table, so he must resort to confusing her or lead her in a different direction with the sheer audacity of delivering a purposely crude exposition. It was a terrible plan, a horrible one, but he could not spare the luxury before the girl that radiates the aura of a World Enemy.

"... Skeleton." Her eyes seemed to be focused somewhere else like they were looking past his flawed words and see… Momonga could almost feel her staring past through the eyes of Issei and into the eyes of the one wearing him. Could she see his Undead Avatar through his flesh? "Alive, but not… Strange."

'_I'm so not good with surprise encounters…'_ When facing situations he had failed to account for, like this one here where he was cornered with no room to escape, Momonga held not even a ghost of a chance as his skills in quick-thinking and decision-making on the spot was subpar. She detected him through the layers of Anti-Divination and Anti-Detection abilities with contemptible ease, so escape was not an option.

What else could he do?

"Ah… well, then please allow me to show my manners." He said in a friendly yet slightly strained tone. "I am Hyōdō Issei. I apologize for not introducing myself earlier, but I did not expect to receive a guest."

The girl once more focused on him and looked him straight in the eyes, her head tilted in another direction as once more she seemed to think about what to answer…

"Ophis." …That told him literally nothing. "You are strong. Unique. Alien."

'_Does anything go by her?!'_ This could be just her feeling his Races, but Momonga could tell that she was referring to his Level, meaning his **[False Data: Life]** and **[False Data: Mana]** were utterly failing him. What was she, a Game Master?!

"Strong… is relative, in my experience, but I consider myself well-seasoned. I do have the utmost confidence in my ability to combat those of my Level, however." Once more, and with a horrible abuse of his Emotion Suppression, he managed not to sound like he was about to crap his heart out. "You can say that I'm adept in maximizing the efficiency of my abilities, instead. A… _professional_."

He only just noticed that her finger was still pointed at him in that accusing manner. He hoped that it was not the equivalent of an actual gun-barrel aimed at him.

"Strong." She said once more in an almost accusing manner. "What do you want?"

There was a pause as if a screech of an old vinyl record that was suddenly interrupted rang out, Momonga's mind blanched slightly at a seemingly random question.

"... What?" He blurted out, his mind failing to process what she meant by that properly.

"I give you what you want." She said it as if it was a fact. "You help me reach _Silence_ and kill Great Red."

Once more, his mind failed to process properly; he grasped at maximum, a third of the random contents that managed to reach his ears. Was she selling him some kind of a pitch? A Recruiting attempt?

"... What?"

* * *

After a lengthy conversation with Ophis, Momonga felt as if he was being made a butt of some cosmic joke. There shouldn't be so much bad luck for one person in such a short period of time.

Right now, he was still reeling from the whole mess with him being reborn in the most bizarre World possible, keeping his Powers from the Game, dealing with the forces of the Underworld and the Fallen… That mess with Asia also weighed him down and the fact that, after he killed Diodora, now every Creation and Summon he had turned into some kind of fetish-art… and that did not include him giving a tour of his lair to _one of the two strongest _beings in the Universe, or so Ophis proclaimed.

"... What is that?" Ophis asked as she pointed at what was once one of his Liches.

"Greetings, Father."

Now it was a naked girl with white hair and grey skin in a tattered cloak while a cross-shaped metal ornament hung on her back. Not only that, but she also held an Item in the form of a book, rusty leather holding aged paper.

"A Lich," he dryly answered.

'_At least it was supposed to be not long ago.'_ He honestly felt miserable about this whole mess. If someone from his Guild was to see him now, there was no way he'll ever be able to live it down while a barrage of mocking laughter murders his dignity to death.

"Ah..." Ophis gave a firm nod.

From their sudden encounter in the street, Ophis refused to let go of his hand, making him look like an older sibling leading his fetish-heavy little sister.

"_Hyōdō_!" Came two voices…

Momonga felt a new wave of dread as he saw the two girls that he earlier sent away through the **[Gate]** running at him with fear in their eyes. Behind them he could see several Skeletons giving chase, there was something almost comical here except he wanted to cry instead of laugh.

"W-Wait, don't run! They mean no harm!" Asia came running after them, her manner of running quite maiden-like, arms bent acutely with her clenched hands racing up and her steps soft.

Momonga raised his hand, commanding the skeletons to stop in their tracks as Murayama and Katase ran to him and grabbed him by the shirt.

"What the hell is going on?!" Murayama shouted with frantic eyes.

"What did you do to us?! You have a lot of explaining to do, Hyōdō!" Katase followed up with teary eyes.

The two looked at the skeletons that were standing calmly behind them and Asia panting a little trying to catch her breath.

"U-Um, i-it isn't what it looks like!" Asia defended in a weak attempt to lie.

"Really? Then what does it look like?! Isn't this a dungeon or something?!" Murayama retorted, flailing her finger at the metallic hallway and arcane balls of light decorating the walls.

"A-And, it's full of skeletons! Why is it full of skeletons?! No, perverse skeletons!?" Pointing at the feminine, near-naked girls wearing lingeries of bones, Katase followed up as she and Murayama let go of Issei to yell at Asia, who was frantically trying to find a way to calm them down. They sound like a gag comedy duo, Momonga compared. As the two shouted at Asia in their panicking frenzy, Ophis tugged on Momonga's hand.

"Who are they?" She pointed at the Kendo Girls.

"... Acquaintances. Both of whom I've dragged into my secret base from panic." Momonga grimaced.

He thought it was a sound idea on impulse, throwing civilians here to protect them from harm. However, Momonga didn't consider using this dungeon to protect bystanders because the Three Idiots informed him that secrecy was imperative for the three factions. But from now on, he must prepare some space for future refugees.

"They're very noisy," Ophis commented.

"Um, please bear with it. They'll calm down after they tire out." Momonga sighed, slightly nervous.

He wasn't sure how Ophis would tolerate the rants of two high school girls trying demanding answers from all this confusion. As he patiently waited for the kendo duo to calm down, Murayama and Katase were heaving their breaths, both verbally exhausted of their retorts. Asia stood there, giving them an awkward smile all this time as they exhausted themselves. She did well weathering their outbursts, so he must provide her with something nice as a reward later.

"... Are you done?" Momonga asked as he gave a slightly apologetic smile to Asia.

"No no no, we are not done. You still have a lot of explaining to do, Hyōdō." Murayama denied, toot sweet.

Momonga sighed again as he pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to calm his nerves. He silently contemplated how to handle these two. Actually, this was his first time introducing civilians into the supernatural world. There was still the option to mindwipe them, but he wanted to see how they could adapt to the truth of the supernatural world hiding under their noses.

In a sense, he could use them as practice material on how to handle civilians. There was no risk involved in this idea, now that he thought about it.

"Alright, yes. Let's see, how should I start…" Momonga wondered how he should start this.

"You can start by telling us who she is." Murayama pointed at Ophis.

"And why are you holding her hand like that, you pedophile?" Katase pointed out.

Their accusing tongues were still as sharp as knives, and they stabbed Momonga hard in the chest.

"... Hah." Momonga was not sure how he was still not used to their verbal lashes. "Alright."

However, Momonga must first accommodate them. He had a room in mind to calm their nerves, one he made for the Three Idiots and Asia in case of a full-scale war.

* * *

In the hidden dungeon, there was a kitchen.

It was made with the intensive purposes of allowing the residents to make their own food and store whatever consumables Momonga purchased or created with Magic. There was a stove Momonga crafted himself, designed with the effect of microwaving or heating any food that required cooking, hot circular rods of iron that generate enthalpy.

As for ventilation to carry the fumes out… Momonga constructed a ventilation shaft that leads to the nearest sewers. He found a way to mask the scent at the very least by covering the area of the sewers with his **[Wish Upon a Star] **Spell. He didn't think it would work when he did it, but the bullshit surprised him once again. It even masked the hole of the vent that leads to his secret base.

The layout of the kitchen was simple and spacious, the floor made of marble while the walls were plated with Star Silver. The ceiling was left alone, but miniature spheres of arcane light possessing the color of the sun hung to light the room of its darkness. The fridge was also magical but lazily designed as a simple rectangular cube that cools the items stored within. Something he conceived on the spot.

Instead of using solid materials, Momonga used a Magic forcefield that insulates the cold temperatures around the shelves of food lying out in the open. Basically, the food stood on metal surfaces lined in rows on the wall while contained in a translucent film of light-blue, like certain products displayed in glass containers. One could simply reach in through the phantom glass and take whatever they need to eat.

There was also a microwave on the counter next to the fridge, but it was store-purchased, powered by a stone that generates electricity in a sense behind the appliance, one that could only conduct electricity through steel and nothing else. He still couldn't believe that he made all this himself with **[Wish Upon A Star]**.

As for the current… '_guests_'... Momonga sat with them around a table made of Scarletite on which food stood for the guests to eat. Seated across Momonga was Murayama and Katase, both of who were looking around the kitchen in awe and curiosity, while Ophis and Asia sat next to Momonga, the first inspecting the room with similar interest.

The Three Idiots were outside, although Momonga wasn't sure if they were alive or dead. However, their absence was a stroke of relief. It spared him the misfortune of explaining to the girls why he imprisoned three women in his dungeon.

The awkward silence was deafening, as Momonga reflects on how to present his supernatural side to the girls. He had construed multiple preplanned explanations in case this happened, fortunately, when the time he must reveal himself to his family arrives. The problem was whether or not they would buy any of his words when they reached their ears.

"So… Murayama, Katase… you two may ask your questions," Momonga spoke, breaking the awkward silence as the two gave him their full attention, broken off from the spell of curiosity.

If they ask why he threw them here, Momonga wouldn't tell them it was because he expected a hostage situation or something along the lines of '_mass collateral casualties_' when Ophis arrived. Still, he did not know that she came here in the hopes of recruiting him to her… strange desire to achieve perfect isolation in what he could best describe as '_The Void_' according to her broken explanation before he gave her the tour.

He still could not wrap his head around Ophis' backstory and her illogical plan to build an army of unstable individuals that, most of which - _if not all_ \- were psychopaths with too much time and power in their hands to do anything else. All to kill another Dragon that stole her ubiquitous home.

And that guy was just as strong as she was. Momonga classified Ophis and this Great Red as World Class Enemies of this bullshit Universe, the kind that would one-shot him for even the slightest misstep, which was unfair as hell just like the dungeons with countless one-hit-kill traps the shitty Devs made. She was the kind of OP Character that could illogically plow through anything a side character could muster with the power of '_plot armor_' as Ulbert phrased when describing Touch Me.

At least she didn't bother to one-shot him… As for her offer, Momonga had more than a thousand reasons to refuse her.

One good reason? Her subordinates were not in their right minds, most of them being completely insane. Remnants of a rejected government that once ruled over the Underworld, a collage of Magician groups with vague motives to drive the world to suicide, and… a Hero Faction. A frickin _Hero Faction_.

Why in God's name were there actual descendants of Heroes amongst the group of homicidal maniacs hellbent on driving the world to ruin? That made absolutely no sense. Another to the pile of reasons why the world is bullshit. Not only that, but Momonga also did not think he was capable of helping the girl kill an Endgame Raid Boss as he was now.

He really did not want to join her if he could. The Factions she recruited were barely functional as a cohesive unit if his initial impression of them held merit to the last letter, meaning Momonga would mix with them like oil to water… or vice versa. If he joined, he could imagine them pinning him in their crosshairs, send assassins to butcher his family members, and initiate a much more gruesome chain of events following.

If they found out how to dominate Undead, Momonga would otherwise be enslaved to the Sub Faction that managed to get its hands on him, forcing him to summon his Undead armies and leak all of his secrets to them. That was not a position he wanted to step in no matter what Ophis promised him. He had no idea how to deal with them just yet, and there was still so much he did not know about the limits of his abilities.

He wanted to ask about their powers, but he needs to guide their soon-to-be conversation to that point after dealing with the Kendo Duo. At least he managed to entertain Ophis to stick around long enough to hear his response with the creative use of Creation Magic and showing her some trinkets from YGGDRASIL.

On the bright side, Murayama and Katase were calm enough to appreciate the layout of his dungeon, his days of hard work.

"...umm… Did you make… all of this?" Katase gestured to everything around her, the kitchen, the floors, walls… everything.

Momonga could understand her feelings. He planned to improve the aesthetics of this place one day if he could.

"Yeah, somehow. Although, don't expect me to know how I did it…" Momonga nodded with a sigh.

He stole a glance at Ophis, wondering how she reacted to that. She looked at him with that same impassive gaze, an unreadable mask that showed no emotions. Looking at Asia, she was drinking a vanilla shake he made for her with **[Wish Upon a Star]**. She looked very cute drinking from a straw.

"You did this all? And not knowing how? I mean… Just _how_?!" Murayama asked while gesturing to his base made via what amounted to back-alley quackery.

'_Good question. I want to know that myself.'_ Even he could not explain how he managed to retain his Avatar's power and more.

"That's the question I can't answer myself… Honestly, I have no idea. I woke up with the ability to use it and without any memory to whoever I was beforehand." That was technically half-true, but it also revealed nothing about what happened before his awakening.

"Wait, no memory of… what?" Katase asked, catching Momonga's point.

"The Hyōdō Issei you see now is… nothing more than an amnesiac trying to fit in the shoes of a corpse. I am basically a stranger to you two and vice versa," Momonga explained.

Murayama and Katase looked at him with their jaws slowly loosening their hinges.

"W-W-W-Wait, so you lost your memories?" Murayama frantically asked.

Momonga nodded as he gave her a sad smile, "Yes. The pervert you know is… dead, so to speak."

Katase cupped her mouth. Murayama stared at him stupefied.

"W-What?! H-How did you lose your memories?! Were you in an accident?!" Murayama shouted, this time with a tone of grave concern.

It was probably the first time he saw a girl concerned about his well-being… well, Issei's well-being.

"I was murdered a few weeks ago. I woke up in a pool of my own blood with scars on my stomach." Momonga informed her as he lifted up his shirt, showing the nasty darkened mark where Raynare admitted she stabbed with her Light Spear.

Momonga managed to hide his scar from Issei's parents and the other male classmates during the gym via simple Illusion Magic. The Kendo Duo was the first from Kuoh Academy to witness this scar. They looked at it with horror and sympathy upon the realization, utterly convinced by his truth-mixed lie.

"And when I woke up, I found out I had Powers, which were probably awakened postmortem. As for my powers, I'm not sure how to explain how it works. It is not… instinctual knowledge, but more like finding newfound awareness of what I can do. Since waking up, I've been training to make the best of my newfound powers while tracking down the one responsible. I did succeed in finding the culprit, who was an actual Fallen Angel. And yes, before you ask, turns out Supernatural does exist. Angels exist. Demons, too." His lie-infested answer somehow, at this point, transitioned into an instinctive rant that nearly knocked the girls off their seats with the sheer absurdity of the daily activities of his secret life.

Ophis did not seem surprised, only curious.

"A-And…?" Katase asked with a shaky voice. "H-How'd you find your way back home? I-I mean, w-when you woke up?"

That Momonga could answer with clarity.

"Waking up in a puddle of my own blood was kind of a shocking experience. I had to fish my own ID out of my pockets to learn my name and age. It was… a very interesting experience. I had to wander around for some time before I found my back home." None of this was an actual lie, especially the last part… maybe the last part. "Then I was trying to figure out what was happening right before something just… _clicked_ and I just acted on that feeling. That was the moment I managed to use a Spell for the first time. Anyways, after digging into the circumstances of my condition, I have encountered something that I honestly thought belonged only to fairy tales. It's a long and very twisted story, one which leads us to this point in the end… so yeah."

"And you just went along with it? Waking up and then just using _Magic_ and not once did you try to figure out the hows or whys?" Katase voiced her confusion with a figurative question mark hovering above her head.

"Who said I thought it wasn't new or unusual? Amnesia, remember?" Momonga shrugged with a deadpan expression, shirking the question in avoidance. "I thought I was a Sorcerer before someone punched a hole through my stomach. Or maybe I was the local version of the _Chosen One_ and was almost assassinated by the agents of the local equivalent of the _Dark Lord_?" Momonga added that part as an allusive mockery to strengthen his point. "Without knowing these small details, much to my chagrin, I decided that sitting on it was my best course of action since my answers would come to me sooner or later. Whether I should be surprised or nonchalant no longer matters at this point, all that matters is finding the truth in the end."

Momonga wasn't precisely lying; he had no clue how his Spells and Skills worked in exquisite detail. All he knew was their effects, how to properly use them, and that he could cast them with ease like before in YGGDRASIL. The process of executing these spells and skills was handled by the System that came with him, performing most of the work for him, so Momonga must start from square one with the Magics he must manually cast himself like the Devil Magic as the Three Idiots labeled for instance.

"Oh… right…" Murayama and Katase looked at each other, exchanging gazes as they sat in silent contemplation.

As if confirming something, the two gave back Momonga their attention before Murayama spoke.

"Then… Why did you send us here in the first place? It is not every day a… Wizard shoved someone through a portal into their secret base."

"Is it Wizard or Sorcerer now that I think about it? Are you a Wizard?" Katase asked with curiosity.

"I think Wizard. As for Murayama's question, that… is not difficult to answer. But I am not sure if you'll like the answer." Momonga now had to gently word that he sent him here to protect them from the equivalent of nuclear fallout.

"Um, why wouldn't we? You make it sound like it is very bad… is it?" The pink-haired girl gave a nervous chuckle as she looked at Murayama in search of emotional security.

'_You have absolutely no idea._' Momonga could not stress how close they were in becoming collateral damage.

"Hah, very well, then. Now, give me a moment. I need to find where to start…" Explaining to them the summary would leave them traumatized and fearful of gothic lolitas if he told them about the unfair Dragon God with the same name as a Wish-granting World Item. He still wondered if Ophis had the power to grant a World Level Wish, but considering her need for an army to take down a similar World Enemy-Type being, that was probably beyond even her power lest she would've created an army of superbeings herself. Momonga turned to Ophis, who was looking at him emotionlessly as always. "To explain the dangers I am facing, here is one example. A few days prior, I encountered a Devil. In case you want to know, Devils are a term for a species of powerful creatures that looked almost completely human, although most of them have bat wings which they can hide in their spines somehow."

Momonga found a way to lead the conversation to ask how the hell Ophis managed to find him, using Diodora as his start.

"Apparently, he was there to… _kill_ me for reasons I will not reveal, but I will say that they're very, very _dumb_." There were no excuses in all of reality that could justify Diodora's motivations, even if God somehow took his side. That bastard deserves to die a thousand deaths for what he had done so far. "Long story short, he came to me in bright daylight, lead me to an alley, tried to murder me, then I killed him with prejudice. Afterward, I got rid of the body and escaped the crime scene after covering my tracks. Somehow, that encounter laid the trail for this girl sitting beside me to find me. Which now brings the question…" Momonga turned to Ophis, finding his chance to grasp some answers to her discovering him. "How did you find I killed Diodora, anyways?"

Ophis only stared at Momonga for a moment before answering much faster than he expected.

"... Snake."

"... Huh?" Momonga's brain suffered a massive lag, his expectations broke like glass from a falling hammer. It took his five whole seconds to parse that one word, five more seconds to find the right word to respond. "What… wait. Please define… '_snake_'?"

Momonga had no idea how a snake could be a leak. Why was a snake the reason for his blunder? That made no sense. Snakes don't even live in metropolitan areas as far as he knew, even before when the pollution damned the Earth and massacred all wildlife!

However, as if to further answer his question, Ophis raised her hand at him as a snake slithered out of her sleeve, black as the clothes on her person with coal-black beady eyes staring at Momonga while flicking its forked tongue at him.

"This… once belonged to Diodora. It told me about you," she explained.

"..." Momonga stared at the snake long and hard, trying to remember anything related to a snake on Diodora's person until he recalled the secondary MP bar. "Wait… what does the snake do?"

Momonga asked.

"... It gives you Power," Ophis simply explained.

Then it finally clicked.

'_Ohhhhh… ohhhhhh…'_ It was then Momonga realized why he couldn't find the source of the secondary MP bar. This thing somehow managed to get away from him under his nose, probably when he was busy draining the soul out of that guy. He felt as if a massive burden left his shoulders like he had found enlightenment.

He had goofed without knowing it and when he found the cause, it was refreshingly anticlimactic. In short, he had messed up because of a simple oversight, because he allowed vengeance to blind him long enough for the witness to flee. Although, to Momonga's credit, who would have thought a prick Devil would house a symbiotic snake in his person?

"So, how does one gain strength from these? Are you supposed to let it bite you or…"

"You eat it."

"... Oh." That shattered his conceptions of gaining strength through a snake.

The last thing any seasoned player would conclude was eating the thing to gain Power. Was this snake some kind of living super drug or something?

"Do you want one?" Ophis asked, her eyes… almost sparkling for some reason.

"If I do, then does that mean I must join your Faction?" Momonga asked, his face now deadpanned.

"Yes."

"Then, no, you may keep your snake to yourself." Momonga refused to join a terrorist group of psychopaths.

The detriments severely outweigh the benefits. Although, Ophis' reaction was pouting at Momonga as the snake withdrew into her sleeve like a turtle to its shell.

"... Why?" Ophis asked, still pouting at Momonga. "Do you not want strength?"

"Well…" Momonga took a look at the girls, giving them an awkward smile and mentally apologizing for leaving them in the dark. "I am… a very '_complicated' _teenager. Yes, I do desire strength, but that is just one of my many desires. As much as it pains me to say, unlike the others you have recruited, I am not so simple to be swayed by mere power alone."

Careful wording was critical here. Bluntness is the line separating tragedy from success. Momonga was in unknown territory here, so he must tread as cautiously and effectively the best he could, else he would fall in one of the pit-traps along the way.

"... Two snakes?" Ophis offered as if doubling her offer in an auction house.

Now that he looked at her, Momonga nearly snorted at how adorable her attempt was. It was then his lightbulb lit on, an idea crossed his mind. He weighed the pros and cons for just a split second and decided to gamble everything on this one.

"... Ophis…" Momonga took a deep breath, preparing himself to probe Ophis of her profile. "Is there any value in returning back to the empty Void between worlds? What do you need from the '_Silence_' so much that you gathered a questionable following to wage war against another almighty being? Especially when there is absolutely nothing waiting for you there?"

Momonga decided to start with her life goals. He felt like that career consultant that one time he met before graduating from Elementary School… It was a very sad time of his life for him when he learned that he would fall behind those his age.

Ophis stared at him for a moment in stoic thought.

"... It is noisy here."

"Noisy?" Reviewing what he learned about her so far, Momonga could almost see where she was coming from. "How long have you lived in that place?"

"... Long time," she answered succinctly.

"With no one else there in the void? All alone?"

"... Yes."

That was enough to conclude her background, one that aroused a terrifying realization.

'_So she was a shut-in from birth… judging by her story now, she must come here rarely… If at all.'_ Momonga was already putting the pieces together now.

She was so used to silent solitude, no one interacting with her as her overwhelming power superseded the need for company, that she had never matured for apparently billions of years. Ophis was as naive as a child isolated from society for countless eons. No wonder the maniacs managed to sway her. She must have come across one of them by sheer chance.

Hell, the ones that were sane most likely turned her down, allowing those maniacs the chance to use her without her knowing. Every word that came out of her mouth only served to pile on his growing worries. It was reaching the height of Mount Everest at this point.

"Ophis, how do you plan on reclaiming your home anyways?" He asked, almost as if demanding from growing concern.

"... Get people to fight him." Ophis simply replied. Her words made Momonga cringe with fear, not for himself but the world.

"That's it? No long-term plan to slay the Godly Dragon once and for all? No tactics, strategies? Anything?"

He had a horrible feeling about this.

"... They can do it for me."

His bad feeling was right. No, it was as evident as daylight.

'_Oh god, I need to do something.'_ Momonga could see the encroaching disaster from the distance that will befall her one way or another.

Knowing this world and the bullshit he faced so far, if something like Ophis came to be, then there was most likely a very, _very_, overpowered tool here on this planet that would allow the maniacs to defeat her. If this world was as bullshit as he thought it was, then there must be something as equally bullshit as Ophis, one that can touch her. She probably had never been in a proper fight since her beginnings. She was a walking World Item of World Items ripe for the taking.

"Ophis… allow me to express my opinion openly. Would you give me your utmost attention?" Ophis tilted her head, confused for a moment before nodding slowly. "After giving your plans much meticulous thought, I have concluded that your plan is critically flawed. No matter how I see this, it is destined to fail."

He threw all of his cautions out the window, there was no room for it. The girl was basically inviting Armageddon to the world without even knowing it, and he must act now and fix the growing cracks before they ruin this world. He would damn himself to hell before allowing another World to fall into ruin if he had any say in it.

"Ophis, I know you are strong, so strong you can break this World unopposed, I think, but please listen to me when I say you are making a very big mistake. Your… acquaintances, for lack of a better word, won't actually help you. They will, and I am one hundred percent confident when I say this, betray you one way or another, and most likely succeed. I don't know how, but I am more than sure that they will find a way to defeat you when you don't know it instead. They aren't fighting for you, Ophis. They are using you. Either way, you won't get your home back from that Dragon. Your plans are like a castle made of sand, easy enough for the wind to take down." Momonga started monologuing and half-venting all the retorts he had on her life goals and methods to her face as gently as he could.

She might hate him for it, but she needs to hear this. She needs someone to teach her some common sense. Ophis stared at Momonga for a moment. He was sure the girl was digesting every word he said so far at once. He waited for five more seconds before Ophis finally gave her thoughts.

"... So how should I defeat him?" She asked. She gave his words her scrutiny and consideration.

Momonga sighed openly, relieved that she didn't lash out in anger.

* * *

Ophis was confused.

There were too many new things to consider and too little time to process them as she looked at the complicated anomaly that sat beside her. He looked like a male Human, young, but it was strangely both true and not true, and she could not exactly tell what he was with how his presence seemed to shift.

A Dragon? A strong one that was young but seemed to be somehow familiar but unfamiliar at the same time… She could feel the presence, the smell, and the Aura of one that could probably fight some of those who she considered strong, some of those who joined her were weaker than he was. It was confusing, and she did not know how to react, her mind felt strangely on alert whenever her thoughts drifted to him, but not in a way that Ophis was used to.

What did she want from him? He was strong enough, but she could not give him something he did not desire. Others favored her for her Power, agreeing to fight the Red One alongside her in exchange for only that.

Her eyes were peering through the strange and numerous Magics applied to his being, obscuring, hiding, deceiving, and outright lying in some cases to anyone else who would try to perceive his true nature. Ophis saw beyond them, the hazy outline of a young Human within a tall skeletal figure with glowing red eyes and wearing a grand robe, with two crimson orb-bearing spaulders, that bore no markings.

She was confused as to how he was even alive.

He was not like that strange skeleton from Mount Olympus that also seemed to want to join her group, but there was something about him that felt almost artificial yet alive at the same time. Ophis thought that maybe she could restore his memories, but that was something she was not sure she could do. So she kept silent, her eyes locked on the spectral form near her.

His questions were different.

While others asked her what she could do for them, this one asked what she wanted and showed actual intentions of wanting to aid her in his way. Different, strange, she did not know how to respond, and her Power offered no solution to this confusion.

She could not erase him as it felt wrong for reasons beyond her understanding. It only left her with observing him and trying to find out why she felt the need to keep him alive, why she needed to understand this anomaly. One thing that she could tell was that the painful feeling of being outside of the Dimensional Gap was not as strong when she was focusing on him. Was his presence radiating the same feel of Silence? No, the annoying noise was still present, it was just pushed away from her whenever she focused on his presence and nothing else, like he _was_ the Silence, but not exactly. Confusing, unexpected, _curious_…

Ophis never asked for permission. Nobody could forbid her anything as nobody was strong enough to stop her, so when she decided to do something, she just did it. Thus, when she rotated her upper body and latched onto her target's torso with an iron grip, she felt no reason why she shouldn't have done that in the first place.

The feeling grew slightly stronger, the presence of something that was like Silence but different, and made things better than they were before. Ophis ignored everything else, with ease she searched for it but the strange thing was elusive and escaped her grasp, for the first time in her life she felt frustrated, and that made her think… The anomaly stated that her mindset and method were incorrect, and that's why she was failing. If that was true, then changing them should bring better results.

Ophis blanked her mind while also trying to block all the noise, and it was as if she was alone once more but with the anomaly still in her grasp. The feeling that tormented her for so long slightly faded as the presence of the anomaly washed over her mind without her resisting it.

What was it? She knew Silence. It would never change, but there was the part of it that she was so accepting of… The Aura of the anomaly brought something else. For the first time in her existence, Ophis felt desire, a desire for _more_. A whisper of a promise in her mind as she dived deeper and deeper into the presence that was flooding her mind, the potential to gain something more than Silence, something _better_ than Silence.

Could it be possible? Ophis was confused, and ruminating over this confusion felt terrible, so she simply ignored those questions. The only thing she did know was that she very slowly was getting what she now desired, and everything else was of no essence to her.

Ophis wanted Silence…

But now, Ophis wanted Issei too…

"...Ophis? Ummm… is there something wrong?"

* * *

Ophis was hugging his waist. Momonga had no idea why she would hug him. He was about to give out a plan he hastily threw together. It involved searching for an ancient weapon that could draw blood from an omnipotent Dragon, possibly another Sacred Gear or something like that, scour the globe for anything related to the killing of Dragons at the very least, Level Up and train like hell, and then attempt to assemble a raid team while preparing for the fight of their very lives… and that is if Momonga couldn't convince her to abandon her Quest of becoming a shut-in.

As much as he wanted to try his hand in facing this world's version of a World Enemy, he wasn't sure if he could even reach the Level needed to harm something like that.

Ophis was comparison enough, and her presence alone alarmed his danger senses and they were as rusty as a blade left in acid if not for his newly acquired dragon instincts. That was more than enough indication for Momonga to strive not to go throw himself into the Dragon's realm. However, before he could enlighten her on his basic plan, Ophis suddenly hugged him. He has no idea why she would do that. She wasn't even responding while latching onto his waist.

'_... This is awkward.' _He was at a loss. Her unexpected hug threw him off track as he looked at the girls again. They were as equally confused as him, probably even more so since they have no idea what the conversation was about. Asia was looking at him with trembling eyes. Why was she looking very sad?

"... You feel… like home." Ophis finally answered with cryptic nonsense.

Momonga could not put himself and the word '_home_' together. Was she saying that his presence was like the Dimensional Gap? He furiously flipped through the pages of his memory on his current Powers, the updated YGGDRASIL System that survived with him, and his current state of being.

He knew he was part Undead… well, mostly Undead. He can devour Souls and steal the Levels of his victims if they're strong enough. He was somehow part Dragon and partially alive… for some reason. He then flipped to his time researching the concept of Necromancy and Undeath in general through the internet. He did it to arm himself with the necessary know-how to recreate his Necromantic and Death Spells through his Devil Magic. The process was still pending with no practical results in application, but he did learn some interesting concepts behind Undeath in return.

According to some sources, an Undead could also equate to being a '_spiritual_ _black hole_' in a manner of speaking, this one being from a page of Dungeons and Dragons. Since he was undying… half undying, he cannot tell. He was like the Void depending on one's point of view. Could his power be related to the Dimensional Gap or the Void in general? He did not think so since the Dimensional Gap and Negative Energy are two different concepts unless it was something purely from YGGDRASIL.

'_Actually, that might be a good place to start…'_ At least he found another lead to how he came here from this confusing series of events. Now, back to dealing with the overpowered loli that could kill him with a thought, _probably_.

"Anyways, Ophis, after careful thought, I have a few ideas on how to get started to help you in your quest to slay a Dragon God, but… I will only help if you allow it. However, it is only if you don't force me to join your organization and if you keep our relationship a secret from others. Is that alright with you?" Momonga asked, hoping that she would at least give his offer some deliberatio-

"Okay."

"I… uhhh…" That was way too fast. Her amiableness baffled his expectations.

"Only if you let me stay with you." The girl then buried her head into his torso.

He wasn't sure if he should deem her adorable or be more confused. For some reason, he could hear Asia whimpering. He really hoped that she would stop giving him those trembling eyes, they hurt his Soul. As for Ophis, was his affinity with the Void that strong of an impact on her? He would have to ask once he gained enough of her trust.

"... Very well. Ophis, you may now consider me a member of your party. Not as your mercenary, but your ally." He added that for good measure.

He could've asked for a snake, but it would only weaken the pitch of his persuasion, plus he did not want to dull his gamer spirit with more bullshit. He had yet to master the powers he did have fully, anyways.

* * *

**Anyways, I hate to be that guy, but I must. Please and come check out my P a treon at **

**p a treon dot com/i4md347h **

**I am in the midst of posting rewards and voting polls on some things regarding my stories. One idea I had was seeing if I should mass-produce chapters to see how they would come out. Come and take a gander. I am also considering how to include Reader OCs in my Hunter Amongst Villains story as well. **


	9. Chapter 9: The Student Council President

**Heyo you guys. I am still alive. I am kinda busy with another project I'm working on with another guy mostly because I was once an editor for the author, ahsoei. It is called One-Punch DxD: Neo, a rewrite of his most popular work I am now co-writing with. I suggest you check it out as production there is a lot more frequent than here. Fav and Follow that story as well. Anyways, Zaralann checked it out in a hurry as he had a lot of problems on his own side, being from Russia and all. He was busy moving his stories to another site, and it kind of killed his mood, too. Anyways, here you go.**

* * *

"Do you think… you can teach me how to use a sword?" Momonga asked Murayama and Katase outside his door.

He had to sneak the two girls out of his home after a lengthy conversation with Ophis and the conditions of her stay.

"Eh? Why? Aren't you… like, a great Wizard or something?" Murayama asked.

"Yes, but I like to strengthen my weak points, which is close combat. As much as I hate to admit, I do need all the help I can get. And I don't like to rely on pure power as much as you think." Those who purely rely on power, Levels as well, would only invite arrogance and death, a trait shown in many Players who could not handle those on their Level, usually filthy casuals or PK-Trolls.

That and Momonga thought warriors are cool, plus the absence of the Level-Cap invited new possibilities for him. Murayama and Katase looked at each other for a moment, unsure of how to process his change.

"We… well… you've really changed, Issei." Murayama admitted as she smiled at him.

"Does this mean I'm no longer a pervert in your eyes?" Momonga joked in a hopeful tone.

"Well, you're still holding Asia here… and…" Murayama paused a little.

"Ophis... Don't worry about her. She is not human, and she is too strong for her own good. She can defend herself." Momonga waved off her concerns.

"Right. I am still not convinced that she is a Dragon God though…" Murayama confessed as she glanced at Ophis at his waist.

It was understandable. Ophis fit the Trope of an '_Overpowered Loli_' like Rubedo Tabula made with the Caloric Stone… Well, a more adorable one, at least. She was still hugging his waist now, it was very awkward as the two girls were occasionally casting glances at Ophis every now and then.

"Yeah… I don't blame you." Momonga agreed as he felt her head snuggling onto his side.

"What about Asia? What do you plan to do with her?" Katase asked.

"I wanted to help enroll her in our school, but I am not sure how yet. I am trying to get the money needed and the papers for her admission." Momonga informed.

"Oh… that… is pretty selfless of you." Murayama admitted, taken back by Momonga's honesty.

"Haha, really? I just… can't bring myself to see her waste her future." Momonga rubbed his head sheepishly. "She needs a school and a family to look after her until the time comes, right?"

Murayama and Katase looked at him, amazed.

"Wow… Asia must be lucky to find someone like you…" Murayama murmured.

"Before or after I lost my memories?" Momonga joked.

"Well, definitely after… You will never come to the girls' locker room, right?" Katase interrogated.

Momonga smiled a little.

"Nah. Consider my status as a pervert revoked. I'm not the same person I was before." The two smiled in relief, but Murayama's face showed concern again the next second.

"Also, tell your idiot friends to never come into the locker rooms," Murayama added.

"That might be impossible even for me." Even without reading those idiots' minds, Momonga could tell that no matter what he did, they would still go and peep on them unless he resorted to Magic.

"Awww! Can't you use your Magic on them?!" Katase whined.

"No. I have decency, you know? I cannot help you with Motohama and Matsuda." Momonga shook his head.

He might have a Magic Item that could detect intruders, but it might not be able to tell the difference between perverts and decent people.

"Hah… Well, figures." Murayama placed a hand on her hip. "We'll consider your request. Though it won't be for free."

Murayama added, and Momonga could understand that.

"What should I pay you with?" Momonga asked. "Would you two be satisfied with real katanas? Or gold?"

Murayama and Katase froze at the mention.

"Wait, you can make them?" Murayama asked.

Her eyes bore an ignited flame, a passion burning for swords, perhaps. Momonga could tell by the way she was looking at him expectantly.

"A-Are they really Magic Swords? You're not kidding, right?" Katase asked, gulping a little.

They really seemed excited about having Magic Weapons.

"Yeah. I can make them right now, but it is too public doing it outdoors. Would you two rather have them now or later?" Momonga inquired.

"W-Wait! Let us think!" Murayama and Katase huddled again, whispering to each other.

Little did they know that he could hear every part of their conversation as if he was within their secret Chat Group.

"Alright, let's ask him." Murayama and Katase nodded as they broke off and smiled at him.

"Um, could we… have a chance to design our own swords?" Murayama asked.

Momonga was quite surprised when he eavesdropped their conversation on getting their own custom swords.

"I… hmmm. I've never made custom swords before, but I can try." Rubbing his chin, Momonga could consider this as a chance to practice the finer details of his Item Creation Spells.

The two smiled at him brightly. It was probably the best smile he received this moment since he took over Issei's shoes. He could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel Issei dug for himself.

"Alright! Then it is settled! We'll let you know when we're done with the designs!" Murayama giggled as she left with Katase, but stopped before taking their third step. "Oh, and… don't worry. We'll keep your secret! We promise we won't tell anyone."

Momonga hoped so. He might have to give them some Items to protect them from mental attacks or else he would mindwipe them beforehand. Either way, Momonga would consider this experiment a success for now. They seemed to take the information of the supernatural fairly well. The snuggling of Ophis stirred him from his thoughts as he looked down on her, seeing her looking back up at him. Momonga did not know what to do with her like this. She looked like a child in need of attention more than an Omnipotent Dragon God.

"Um… do you want to eat something?" Momonga asked.

"... Mmm."

"... Is that a '_yes_' or a '_no_'?" Momonga couldn't tell behind that stoic expression. Maybe he could ask Asia to try and be Ophis' friend.

Either way, Momonga must convince his parents to let the girl stay at his home for now… hopefully, they would be just as flexible with her like with Asia.

* * *

"... and that is all I saw." Koneko informed Rias in the clubroom lounge on the sofa, sipping her tea in one hand and holding a cookie in another.

She informed her all she could from her time spying on Hyōdō Issei, from school to the shopping district. Hyōdō unexpectedly had terribly acute senses, raw and untrained, but very sharp and dangerous if refined. She could not follow him back home because of the lack of cover, so she had to abandon the mission for now with what she learned so far. She couldn't hear most of what Issei said when speaking with the blonde nun as she had to stay farther from her target than usual.

Rias sat next to her in thought, one leg over the other, humming as she smiled with a cute, devious grin.

"Interesting. To think that Issei has a nun with him. _Hmmmm_…" Rias was musing to herself as always.

Koneko silently ate her cookie as she ruminated her thoughts on Issei.

Issei had a unique presence, someone that might be the person Rias was looking for to aid her to escape the arranged marriage with Raiser Phenex. The reason being was that Koneko couldn't appraise his presence no matter how much she squinted her efforts, and him being sensitive to her presence proved that he was somewhat special at the very least.

Not many humans could sense her concealed presence, after all.

"I think I can use her as a way of getting him… though I might have to wait for Sōna's attempt." Rias ruminated aloud.

Koneko stopped chewing when her mind drifted to Issei. Koneko remembered a strange reaction in her body when she laid eyes on him. According to rumors, Hyōdō Issei was nothing more than a mega pervert that deserved to burn at the stake with his two cohorts. However, when Koneko saw Issei, she didn't see a pervert… instead, she saw something like a caring older brother.

Issei must definitely be planning something.

Koneko was fully aware of the Perverted Trio and, from first glance, she knew that the three were rotten to the core. She was aware of all the dastardly attempts Issei and the rest of the Perverted Trio performed, having the gall to sneak into locker rooms to peek on the changing girls, stealing underwear from the lockers, or even try to obtain a vantage point to peep at them showering. Koneko remembered that one time when she saw Issei and the other two run out of the gym locker room, all having a red handprint on their cheeks.

Thus, Koneko was more concerned with Issei's behavior. What, in the name of Satan, happened to him? There was no way he could be reformed under such a short time. Koneko was very close to wanting to take the girl away from Issei for her safety if not for the fact that she seemed happy being around him.

"Koneko-chan." Rias called out, snapping Koneko out of her thoughts.

"... Yes, Buchō?" Koneko asked softly, finishing her cookie and her tea.

"What are your thoughts on the current Issei?" Rias asked on the matter of her target with a sweet smile.

Koneko hummed as she continued sipping her tea for a second.

"He is suspicious, I don't buy his act." Koneko was sure that the pervert was still the same, or somehow worse.

"See? Nice to hear you agree with me on that, Koneko-chan." Rias walked over to Koneko and patted her head.

Koneko closed her eyes, trying her best to resist Rias' hand ruffling her hair. While it felt pleasant, she did not like to indulge in the feeling as it came from her Neko side, something she wanted to repress.

"Now I know something has definitely happened to Issei… What could it be to turn a pervert into a gentleman like this?" Rias mused. "What do you think it might be, Koneko-chan?"

Koneko had one obvious answer.

"He is a sexual predator that must be exposed for his crimes." Koneko relentlessly concluded.

"Ara ara. That is a bit too harsh. Did you become a victim of his before?" Rias asked.

Koneko shook her head. If Koneko were to ponder on the source behind her animosity towards Issei… it would be because of how weird it was to see a member of the Perverted Trio catering the needs of a seemingly harmless girl. There was some other reason but she could not tell why… the way Issei kept feeding her and treating her did not sit well with her for some reason.

"No… Buchō, I want to keep spying on him," Koneko requested.

Rias looked surprised when she turned her head her way with determination.

"Ara ara. May I know why my cute junior wants to?"

"I… want to make sure the girl is safe from pervert hands." Koneko reasoned.

Rias contemplated her request for a moment.

"Hmmm. Alright. Be sure to inform me of what you've learned, alright?" Koneko nodded.

* * *

Throughout the class, from morning to afternoon, '_Issei_' laid his face down on the desk, his eyes so drained of life that he almost looked dead. He had remained in this stare during the lecture, which concerned the students around Issei and soon the math teacher as well.

"Oi. Issei." Matsuda called out as he poked Momonga's shoulder.

The depressed corpse did not respond.

"H-Hey, you alright?" Motoyama waved his hands up and down before Momonga's amber eyes.

"Ugggh…" They only elicited a groan.

At least they got something out of him.

"Yo, dude. What happened?" The Perverted Duo was now curious about what rendered Issei into this state.

"Mr. Hyōdō, are you unwell?" The math teacher asked.

"Ugggh…"

"Wow." Kiryu whistled at the sight as she hunched forward to get a better look at the amnesiac. "You look like a zombie. Were you up all night this morning?"

"Uuuugh-huh." Momonga lied in grunts.

The source of Momonga's exhaustion derived not from surviving his studies for an entire night, but from yesterday once the mental fatigue of dealing with a Surprise Dragon God at his doorstep caught up with him - and the two happy parents that found Ophis precious enough to hug. He still couldn't believe that they bought his lie about her being a girl lost and abandoned in the streets.

Said girl was slithering under his clothes in the form of a small snake. There were many words that came to Momonga's mind but he couldn't voice them out to Ophis vocally or mentally.

"Dude, get some sleep. You're gonna become one of the living dead at this rate."

_'You are part-right.'_ Momonga quipped.

The rest of the class started giggling at '_Issei's_' poor lifestyle.

"Coffee… can fix it." Momonga rebuked.

"There's a limit to how much fatigue caffeine can stave off, Mr. Hyōdō. However, since you're finally awake, would you care to tell us the solution to the formula..."

"Six."

"That is correct… Excuse me, could you repeat that again?" The teacher asked, adjusting his glasses as he blinked his assumed drowsiness away.

"Six. The answer is six." The answer was correct, but the teacher just introduced a new lesson in mathematics, yet Issei of all people managed to solve it while rotting on his desk in what he assumed was either insomnia or depression.

Maybe both.

However, the truth was something else. It was a special Devil Skill he obtained called **[Numbercraft]**, something he got from Diodora. This Skill simply aids the calculation of arithmetics, which was helping him a lot in his math studies. It even helped him organize his thoughts better to a significant degree, something he hoped to improve.

"Would you kindly take over and explain to the class how you managed to find the solution?"

"No." Momonga did not feel like grabbing attention, nor did he want any.

"Would you rather have detention?" The teacher threatened.

"Ugh…" Momonga, now forced to take action, slid off his desk and fell to the floor as he slowly rose to his feet in shambles.

His actions stunned the teacher. The former member of the Perverted Trio was even walking like one of the living dead.

"Actually, never mind. Return to your seat. We can find someone else. Motoyama, would you take over?"

"Wait, what?"

"Splendid. Please come up to the board." With cold, calculated brutality, the math teacher cut off his victim's escape route.

The comedy made Momonga chuckle as he shambled back to his seat, slithering onto the desk like a lazy slug. Upon slamming his head face down, burying it in his arms, Momonga smiled in secret as he struggled to contain his laughter from sacrificing Motoyama in his stead.

After class finished, Momonga left the room and got ready to head home. Murayama and Katase still haven't finished with the design for their swords yet, though they promised to start sword lessons in the evening.

Frankly, Momonga was slightly excited. He was finally going to learn some swordsmanship from a senior practitioner. It was quite tiring mimicking the practice swings of others while worrying if he did something wrong. His Death Knights… He refused to deal with them until eventually.

As Momonga left the room and entered the hallway, he saw a certain girl walking towards him. No, she looked more like a young woman judging from her regal gait. She was bespectacled, her glasses semi-rimmed with square lenses, had long straight black hair extending to her knees, her bangs split around her forehead above her heterochromatic eyes, her left violet and right brown.

The way she looked reminded Momonga of the way Yuri Alpha looked back in Nazarick, now that he thought about it, a cool glasses beauty.

"Mr. Hyōdō?" She asked.

Momonga blinked for a moment as he looked left and right, seeing the students in the hallway whispering amongst themselves.

"Hey, that's Vice-President Tsubaki."

"He's talking to that guy of the Perverted Trio."

"Is she calling him about the Kendo Club incident?"

Momonga thanked them for the exposition, but that did not explain why she was asking for him out of all people.

"Um, yes?" Momonga asked, pointing at himself.

While he donned a clueless facade, actually he was clueless, he silently cast **[Mana Essence]** to check his suspicions. He nearly grimaced when he saw the girl's high MP Bar hovering overhead.

She was a Devil for sure, and her presence did not inspire confidence. Did the Devils see through his true nature? Did Momonga slip up? Either way, Momonga had gathered the Devils' attention, so he must confirm their motives.

"President Sōna would like to see you in her office. Please follow me as I bring you to her."

Momonga smiled awkwardly, trying his best to quell his growing anxiety.

"...Alright"

'_Stay calm. You have Ophis hiding under your shirt in case things go wrong._' Momonga reminded himself in his head. In the worst-case scenario, Momonga could simply cast **[Time Stop]**, kill them within the spell's duration, and flee the scene after leaving no evidence. If they were somehow resistant to Time Magic, then Momonga could simply cast **[Silent Magic: Death]** at them. After that, Momonga could bring the bodies back to base, revive them, then rewrite their memories before throwing them back to their offices safe and sound stave off the attention.

He was sure that they had no resistance to Instant Death and Time Magic from his conversation with the Three Idiots.

As he followed her, he attracted some eyes from the other students, both his juniors and seniors. They were mostly commenting on Tsubaki's beauty and how graceful she looked, which Momonga did not deny that she had a unique charm even though it was from her devil side. As for him, mostly negative comments from the girls while some remarks of envy from the boys.

Momonga sighed as they went upstairs, already resigned to their treatment.

When they arrived at an ornate door of mahogany, Tsubaki lightly knocked on the door three times.

"President Sōna, I have brought the person you've asked for." Momonga paused as he took a deep breath.

This was his first time interacting with a Devil up close. Diodora was more of... unwanted encounter, so he did not count.

"Come on in, Tsubaki."

The door opened inwards, revealing a sole girl behind a mahogany desk. It was the first time Momonga saw the Student Council President like this face to face, and the rumors did not exaggerate on her being a serene beauty. The tales didn't mention, however, that the girl across him held considerably higher MP and HP Bars than some of the hidden Devils he caught by chance.

Not only that, the way Sōna stared into his eyes with her scrutinizing gaze was unsettling. It was like she was trying to infiltrate his mind and find every secret hidden there. She pushed up her glasses as she inspected him from head to toe.

"Hmmm, Mr. Hyōdō." The girl Momonga learned as Sōna called. "Would you please have a seat?"

Momonga couldn't help but gulp a little. For some reason, it felt his boss called him for something he did wrong back home. Reluctantly, Momonga walked to the chair and took his seat.

"Alright… may I ask why I am called here?" Issei asked. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Oh, no. I have brought you here for questioning regarding your mental health." Sōna replied.

"Mental health? Like?"

"You have undergone a drastic change recently. Lately, the female student body had requested me to evaluate your current state mostly to confirm whether your perverted tyranny had truly ended."

'_Ahhhhh…_' It was always from the female students.

"…I see..."

He slowly slumped his shoulders, sighing, wondering when the bias would end. Sōna calmly pushed up her glasses.

"Are you alright, Mr. Hyōdō?" Sōna asked.

"I am… in good health." Momonga worded. "Just not happy to hear the reason."

"Oh. So you are shameful of your past misdeeds?" Sōna asked.

"... in a sense." Momonga made a mental note to strangle Issei if he saw the pervert in heaven… or Hell, in case he got the chance to enter either realm.

"Interesting." Sōna mused to herself.

"What are you planning to do?" Momonga asked. He wasn't sure if he should try and bait some information out of Sōna, but that only worked if she was aware of his knowledge of the supernatural. Momonga would have to bide his time until developing relations sparked an opportunity at least.

"If you are worried about expulsion or mandatory check-ups, worry not." Sōna snapped her finger as Tsubaki nodded.

Momonga looked at the other bespectacled beauty, watching her take something out of a glass-door cabinet… Was that a chessboard? Punitto Moe introduced that to him in YGGDRASIL before. Tsubaki calmly returned to Sōna's desk, placing the chessboard on it before putting the black and white chess pieces on each side.

"Forgive me if I am direct, but do you perhaps play chess by any chance?" Sōna asked.

Never.

"No." Momonga slowly shook his head as he stared at the chessboard with nervousness. Judging by how Sōna looked, Momonga had the impression that Sōna was a bona fide chess master. "Do you play Chess by any chance?"

Momonga asked back.

"Hmm, I do. Frequently with my close associates, in fact." Sōna answered.

"Then, I am afraid that my skills will not live up to your liking." Momonga did not want to play for two reasons.

One, he preferred not to embarrass himself in front of a girl. Two, Punitto Moe once stated that true chess masters could decipher the other's mentality with one game, and the fact that Sōna was a Devil made her fall into that category, or at least Momonga assumed so. He absolutely had no chance against an actual intellectual, and she fit the role visually and academically since she is a student council president.

"Nonsense. Contrary to my appearance, I do not discriminate. Besides, it is a private pleasure of mine to tutor others, especially in Chess," Sōna replied.

_'Crap.'_ Sōna cut off every one of his escape routes. Now he had no choice but to play as she strips him naked in Chess.

"Mind if I ask why the invitation?" Momonga asked.

"Hmm, mostly to pass the time as we talk. And it helps me understand others better." Sōna answered.

The Chess Board was prepared, all the pieces from pawn to rook on the board.

"Now, shall we play?" Sōna asked.

No. Momonga didn't want to.

* * *

Issei did not live up to his infamy, now that Sōna appraised him up close.

The sexual predator was nowhere, only a very depressed soul undergoing a period of shame. The myth that the members of the Perverted Trio would undress every female student with their eyes at first chance was now in question since one member was more engrossed in the chess table instead of wracking his brain.

"Care to share your thoughts?" Sōna asked as she moved a piece.

"Thoughts such as?" Issei asked as he reached out for a piece, but withdrew his hand a second later.

So he was the kind to second-guess himself, susceptible to paranoia.

"Are you fond of your reputation?" Sōna asked.

"If by reputation, the ridiculous image of me as a pervert, then no." Issei immediately answered.

"Do you regret being a pervert?" Sōna asked as Issei moved a Pawn.

"... You can say that." Issei frowned at Sōna's answer.

It would seem Sōna had touched a sensitive spot. She moved her Knight next as she replied.

"I apologize if I am intruding. I am merely asking them at the request of the female student body." It was a half-lie.

The number of girls requesting this investigation was around twenty.

"I am not surprised, but it still hurts to hear it." Issei sighed as his hands hovered over his pieces in thought.

Sōna could understand Issei's hesitation. Even professionals would fall before her on the chessboard within Devil society, although suitors would be more appropriate in this scenario. She smiled a little when seeing Issei torment himself as his skin started to perspire as he planned his next move. She felt like a predator playing with her food a little, picking on a tyro just to glean information out of her prey.

"Hmm, no. Are you planning on enrolling in a club, by any chance?" Sōna asked as she moved another Pawn, deciding that now might be the best chance to set up a meeting between him and Rias.

"A Club…" Issei mused before shaking his head. "I am pretty busy these days…"

Issei decided to move another Pawn.

"Hmm, what dilemma is troubling you? Other than enduring the delayed shame of past actions?" Sōna moved her Knight next.

"Hah hah. Your humor is amusing." Issei dryly rolled his eyes. "I am concerned with my studies mostly, among other things."

Issei moved his bishop next. The way he placed his Bishop in a gap between the pawns told Sōna much about his desire to be prepared.

"Academic studies, correct? May I ask why you're taking such an interest in it right now?" She asked as she moved her other Knight.

"I am… just worried about my future." Issei moved another pawn forward.

"I can understand that. Do you want a recommendation for a tutor?" Sōna asked as she moved her other pawn.

Issei paused in contemplation upon her suggestion.

"... Why are you offering?" Issei asked.

"Hmmm, psychological profiling. I am trying to see if you're as bad as the girls say."

"Ahhh…" Issei moved another pawn. "I see… what do you think of me?"

"You do not live up to your reputation up close." Sōna moved another Pawn. "You also look like you were victimized by someone every time I brought up your reputation."

Issei averted his eyes, avoiding eye contact.

"You can say… that my life has been unfair as of late."

"So are you interested in having a tutor? There is one I know in a club that can help you." Sōna asked, finding this an opportunity to send Issei to Rias.

"I find your insistence a bit suspicious…" Issei noted as he moved his Knight out of caution for Sōna's invasion.

"Is there a reason for that?" Sōna asked.

"A Student Council President is delivering an offer in person. Is that not suspicious enough?" Issei asked.

"Fair." Sōna understood that point as she smiled a little.

The candidate possessed a level of awareness she could not help but find promising.

"Would you allow me to recommend a name at least?"

"... Who are you advocating?" Issei asked.

"Rias Gremory. One of the two Beauty Queens of our Academy."

"Gremory?" Issei looked up at her upon hearing that name.

Rias' name drew out more reaction than Sōna expected, but Sōna could understand. After all, Rias, someone beyond Issei's league, was offering her assistance to a random face in the crowd.

"Yes, I understand." Sōna nodded as she moved another chess piece.

"... Understand _what_?" Issei asked.

Sōna caught his fingers curling up, mostly out of nervousness. He was slowly raising his hand up as his palm was about to face her.

"Me recommending Rias. While I understand your surprise, she would be glad to assist you should you request her." Issei blinked three times at her.

Mostly confused and in disbelief, she believed.

"Is that so?" Issei's hand then reached out and moved another chess piece.

"Well?" Sōna asked, moving her piece. "Will you take it?"

If Issei was a sane man, there was no way that he wouldn't-

"It looks promising but I don't think someone like her has time for a fool like me." This time, Sōna perked her head as she looked at him.

The claims of Issei's loss of libido was starting to hold more merit than Sōna would've liked.

"Really? You wouldn't take the chance to be tutored by one of the most beautiful girls in school?" Sōna asked as she moved her piece.

"It is because she _is_ that popular that I find it hard to believe." Issei mentioned.

Sōna started to find her lips curling up to a smile. While his skills in chess were subpar, his skill in dialogue seemed to rival hers in chess.

Issei formed a very tight barrier with his chess pieces like a turtle hiding behind its shell, waiting for Sōna to whittle her forces away. So Issei would resort to absolute defense in the face of a powerful foe or something? It was a while since Sōna faced that form of tactic since most of her opponents were confident in the offensive. Even for her, this was an annoying tactic to deal with, but she might be able to break him out of his shell and go for the king.

"My, your formation is quite tight. Are you desperate or cautious against me?" Sōna teased.

This formation also revealed how insecure Issei was.

"Um, maybe a bit of both. Bluntly put, I am a 'noob' facing off against a pro. The noob always gets wrecked in this situation." Issei retorted with casual slang.

"Hmmm, that is true." Sōna admitted. "Although it isn't manly to cower in the face of a girl."

"Gender means nothing in this game." Issei defended.

"Kuh." Sōna stifled a laugh at his childish defense.

"A correct statement. After all, many males would belittle me because of my gender." She smiled as she began her siege against Issei's castle.

"I take it that they did not take their losses lightly?" Issei asked as he tried to block Sōna's assault.

"How can you tell?" Sōna asked with a smile as she started to pick his units apart while he hers in retaliation.

"I guessed. And you have an obvious fondness for the classic game… crap, my Rook." Issei was starting to get pressured as he tried to defend against Sōna's assault.

"I'm going to take your King in five… no, six moves."

"Would you surrender if I make it eight?" Issei's asked as he tried to counter her formation, getting more engrossed into the game as he took vigilance.

Sōna smiled as she picked off his bishop and his knight at the cost of her rook, and bishop, and Queen.

"Funny. I might consider it if you manage to checkmate me." Sōna said as she rethought her assault.

Sōna watched as Issei started to disband his turtle formation to go on the offensive. The boy was attempting to fight her on her terms, a courageous move, she thought. Did he see an opportunity to turn the tables?

"Are you trying to boost my confidence? Or lying to me so that I might slip on my toes?" Issei asked as he started to counter her formation.

"Hmmm. I never thought about such subtle subterfuge. I should try that."

"... You should." In truth, she was complimenting him.

Unlike her usual opponents, Issei was quite aware of his flaws to a fault, it seemed considering how tightly he locked his King up behind his other pieces. Verbal sabotage, on the other hand, wasn't a tactic Sōna would usually consider since her skill was more than enough to defeat her foes, so much that she had forgotten that it existed. It wasn't something one would see in Noble society, anyways.

"Let's see, do you wish to make a bet?" Sōna asked, starting to have fun chatting with the boy across her.

He proved to surpass his reputation, someone that she might enjoy a conversation with. His way with words and mannerism made him more… high-class than the male Noble Devil suitors she crushed.

"You're suggesting a wager? In a game you are obviously adept in?" Issei asked.

An obvious point. Ever since Issei entered the room, he looked at her and Tsubaki like an animal treading softly in a predator's den. Was he aware of their true Nature?

"I can see the unfairness of this proposition. To make it fair, how about this? If I checkmate you, you must come up here tomorrow to share a cup of tea with me. How about that?" Sōna offered.

Sōna wondered if she should explain what they were to Issei as friendly as she could. She was considering whether she should invite Rias for a chance to explain herself before Issei at the very least… but for some reason, she found a part of herself not wanting to include Rias.

"That seems like something I would definitely refuse even for a cup of tea." Issei joked.

"Hmmm, as a '_newbie_' as you call yourself, though the more sophisticated term is tyro, I will give you the opportunity to formulate your desire, one within reason that is, if you manage to survive the next… four turns," she replied.

Issei raised a brow at her offer.

"Hoh… a fair, tempting chance…" This way, Issei would heavily reconsider refusing.

"Will you accept? It is a feat someone of your level can handle." Sōna asked, challenging Issei's pride.

Sōna was starting to feel something warm bubbling alongside a tinge of excitement inside her. She chalked it up to having fun.

"... It would be dull to not take it, but…"

"So take it. What is stopping you?" Sōna asked as she cut off all of his escape routes.

"There is not enough incentive. The term '_desire_' isn't vague enough for me to accept and your confidence does not inspire me to accept." Issei replied.

"Oh, I might be a Chess Master, but I am not without limits in my actions."

"Even against a tyro like me?" Issei joked.

"Is that a dare I am sensing?" Sōna asked with a smile.

"What would you do if I say yes?" Issei asked.

"Make it two turns and I will consider it."

"Three turns or I will destroy you so badly that you will return as an existential crisis victim." Sōna refused to let the newbie have the high ground in this parley, especially when she was… wait, something was wrong.

Upon inspecting the chess board again, she saw that Issei was down to four Pawns, a Rook, two Bishops, a Knight, and a Queen alongside his King.

Sōna still had her two Knights, a Bishop, a Rook, two Pawns, and her King. She looked at her pieces again. Wait, was she losing?

"Then I will accept your terms as soon as I finish you off." Issei said as he moved his pieces.

What went wrong? This wasn't like her to be on the losing end like this. She had more pieces the last time she recounted. Was she that engrossed in her conversation that she lost notice of the current state?

She swiftly calmed herself down as she tried to salvage what she had to defeat the man before her. However, Issei had checked her in two turns with his overwhelming pieces.

How did this happen? Sōna did not know, but she was sure that something was off… Did he cheat? No, she could not sense any foul play as far as she knew.

All she could do was sigh as she leaned back against her chair. Yet, she could not help but smile a bit at this sudden peripeteia.

She had lost… in her own game. Her attempt to trap him somehow lead to her downfall. Either way, whether he had cheated or not, Sōna couldn't help but feel… cathartic for some reason. It made her recall one thing.

When was the last time she lost at chess? And it wasn't by her opponent completely, but mostly her arrogance.

"Fine. you have won."

Yet Sōna couldn't help but smile from the feeling her loss brought.

* * *

**[Aura of Submission V]** \- This Passive Skill is specifically designed to affect anyone around the user and subtly influence their perception of the user while guiding them towards the position of submission to him. In the case of fertile females that the user subconsciously finds attractive, it also influences them to lust, affection and even love towards him over time and its Effect can be boosted and even bottled-up and then unleashed for greater results. Cannot be perceived nor can it be noticed, can be resisted by strong enough males but the more compatible females are with the user the more efficient it becomes. As a secondary Effect, it also boosts the positive feelings someone has towards him along with its influence shifting depending on the user's state.

* * *

**As for concerns from the Review, I will have you all know that Momonga will NEVER enter Rias' peerage despite your worries and concern :/. Interaction, maybe, but join? No.**

**Another thing, for those complaining about OOCness, Momonga is not in the New World playing the Overlord and the Villain, he has room to be more himself. So excuse me for trying to make him casual in a somewhat carefree environment. I did edit the part with Sōna again though. The question is, what do you think happened? :3**

**There is one spell that could freeze someone in time, a singular person that is.**


End file.
